tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15683345617227603292017-12-13T08:59:43.599-08:00The Fies FilesI created <i>Mom's Cancer,</i> which won an Eisner Award and was published by Abrams. Other honors included a Harvey Award and the German Youth Literature Prize. My second book, <i>Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?</i>, was nominated for Eisner and Harvey awards and won the American Astronautical Society's Emme Award. Recently did an Eisner-nominated webcomic, <a href="http://lastmechanicalmonster.blogspot.com/">"The Last Mechanical Monster."</a> I'm grateful.Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.comBlogger752125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-7296264588351550442017-12-12T14:55:00.002-08:002017-12-13T08:59:43.734-08:00Drawing Strength<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bp5Y5o7ukJY/WjBQ6o2G0BI/AAAAAAAAHWw/WbnedunAzc0zkRtNG8xQmxU-8NdqVLHWACLcBGAs/s1600/Schulz%2BBenefit%2BPoster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="741" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bp5Y5o7ukJY/WjBQ6o2G0BI/AAAAAAAAHWw/WbnedunAzc0zkRtNG8xQmxU-8NdqVLHWACLcBGAs/s640/Schulz%2BBenefit%2BPoster.jpg" width="489" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Although I've been active on Facebook, I haven't blogged in a while and feel bad for leaving any non-Facebookers who might check in here hanging. Karen and I are doing all right. The Army Corps of Engineers cleared our lot yesterday. There are no more artifacts to recover, no more wondering what I might find in the ashes if I just look one more time.... Now there's no going back; only forward.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">People ask if I'll do more "Fire Story." I hope so, but not here and not soon. I'd like it to be published as a graphic novel, and have good reason to believe that could happen. I'm working on a book proposal now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Meanwhile, here are some photos from last Saturday's "Drawing Strength" benefit at the Charles M. Schulz Museum &amp; Research Center. Three people who worked hard to make the event happen were "Pearls Before Swine" cartoonist <b>Stephan Pastis;</b> Stephan's wife <b>Staci,</b> who really ran the show; and the museum's education director <b>Jessica Ruskin.</b> And of course it couldn't have happened without the enthusiastic support of <b>Jeannie Schulz,</b> whose home was destroyed in the firestorm as well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The benefit began with a panel on healing through art, moderated by local journalist Chris Smith. It was intended to include me, Pastis, and author <b>Christopher Moore,</b> who called in at the last minute with a horrible case of food poisoning. Moore felt terrible about it, and dispatched his wife to drive boxes of signed books to the museum for anyone disappointed by his absence. Cartoonist, writer, and reality-TV pioneer Judd Winick stepped in at literally the last minute. Judd's terrific graphic novel <i>Pedro and Me,</i> about the death of his "Real World" co-star and friend Pedro Zamora, made him an ideal fit for the theme.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_HijJ6yxyVs/WjBXDxF6U3I/AAAAAAAAHXs/eyyLD_W10bE9A6NTLPsmSCALKx9Xyz7RwCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_3766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_HijJ6yxyVs/WjBXDxF6U3I/AAAAAAAAHXs/eyyLD_W10bE9A6NTLPsmSCALKx9Xyz7RwCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_3766.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before the event, Raina, Stephan and I enjoyed a nice dinner of pizza, pasta and salad provided by the museum.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3XxngCRAqk8/WjBXznQxkSI/AAAAAAAAHXw/rOgG62aW5wc67OnYv0JNxe0gL7eQ1SQmgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3XxngCRAqk8/WjBXznQxkSI/AAAAAAAAHXw/rOgG62aW5wc67OnYv0JNxe0gL7eQ1SQmgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3764.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I took along books for Raina, Judd, Dave Eggers, and Christopher Moore to sign. Hey, I have a library to rebuild! I'll catch Moore later.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jlANyoIs1-0/WjBWu5-VfHI/AAAAAAAAHXA/M74_X2dUNDU4OEIUBFee9KXPlx7Ztn6agCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jlANyoIs1-0/WjBWu5-VfHI/AAAAAAAAHXA/M74_X2dUNDU4OEIUBFee9KXPlx7Ztn6agCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3767.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stephan, Judd and I waiting in the wings to be introduced before the panel.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G1pKiyWyO9Y/WjBW_vPB1xI/AAAAAAAAHXs/xep2HLLzo3sRAK20dZ6UCY_XN8rEGt-kQCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_1389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G1pKiyWyO9Y/WjBW_vPB1xI/AAAAAAAAHXs/xep2HLLzo3sRAK20dZ6UCY_XN8rEGt-kQCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_1389.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I stepped on stage blinded by the light of my own drawing. The museum's Great Hall was packed with 250 to 300 people.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p4vU61JdRgE/WjBXFGQubsI/AAAAAAAAHXs/DmaPt604oeQk3LVuHZ2zQWKADRZTAZ8_QCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_3772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p4vU61JdRgE/WjBXFGQubsI/AAAAAAAAHXs/DmaPt604oeQk3LVuHZ2zQWKADRZTAZ8_QCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_3772.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judd started us off with an excellent impromptu talk about "Pedro and Me" as well as his new work "HiLo" while Stephan and I lurked in the shadows. Judd's done a lot of public speaking and stepped in confidently and smoothly.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IkD2jLi_Wug/WjBXGxrlzNI/AAAAAAAAHXs/Mz-jiPzM3bMuPrIScvXWGMTg_CtV2evHgCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_3768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IkD2jLi_Wug/WjBXGxrlzNI/AAAAAAAAHXs/Mz-jiPzM3bMuPrIScvXWGMTg_CtV2evHgCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_3768.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from my seat as Stephan reads from his comic strips, including more serious ones about Middle East violence and gun deaths. He genuinely choked up. I was touched. Note the full house.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EEIOzGxA-9o/WjBXJb2PdcI/AAAAAAAAHXs/4M-M9T1XVc8MmUYSE2i3L2qKfr_F-nsWQCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_3780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EEIOzGxA-9o/WjBXJb2PdcI/AAAAAAAAHXs/4M-M9T1XVc8MmUYSE2i3L2qKfr_F-nsWQCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_3780.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doing my best. I touched on the fire, <i>Mom's Cancer,</i> graphic medicine, and the fact that when I evacuated my studio I grabbed pieces of original art by Charles Schulz, Walt Kelly and Winsor McCay but left my "Pearls Before Swine" behind. Stephan pretended to be peeved until I explained that I only saved dead guys' work.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PsrbWMZHQuA/WjBXH2fAeMI/AAAAAAAAHXs/qXj3OlEE1S0XzGLh3e_xlHk3_rS1cdeIgCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_3774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PsrbWMZHQuA/WjBXH2fAeMI/AAAAAAAAHXs/qXj3OlEE1S0XzGLh3e_xlHk3_rS1cdeIgCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_3774.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part of my talk included photos I took as I walked into my neighborhood that first morning and the comic panels they inspired/informed.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After the panel and coinciding with a wine and beer reception, the panelists were joined by author <b>Dave Eggers,</b> bestselling cartoonist (and my friend!) <b>Raina Telgemeier,</b> and Pixar animator <b>Andrew Atteberry</b> (who was added to the program too late to make the poster) to sign books and posters, and draw for fans. To help raise funds, people could pay $50 to have any artist draw whatever they wanted within the artist's ability and good nature.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Honestly, I don't like doing sketches for money. I've done it before and I'm not good at it. Too much pressure. Somewhere in the world are a father and son to whom I owe $10 because my drawing of "Chewbacca playing basketball" was so bad. To be fair, I had no reference images (this was inside San Diego Comic-Con, where my phone got no reception) and Chewbacca is really hard to draw. Even his bandolier is hard to draw. I think the basketball turned out OK. But for the Schulz event I stepped up and did my best, and everyone seemed happy with their drawings.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uCtaV4lqdwA/WjBXAldtnSI/AAAAAAAAHXs/DF3801o7EHIw_jS4l_EEgbpN3tredAuOACEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_1403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uCtaV4lqdwA/WjBXAldtnSI/AAAAAAAAHXs/DF3801o7EHIw_jS4l_EEgbpN3tredAuOACEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_1403.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Books for sale in the lobby, including <i>Mom's Cancer.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dg7HUhJK7VA/WjBb9lfMBrI/AAAAAAAAHYE/iI3OxntrKFIQxXAfproi7qKzRxyLGvgdgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dg7HUhJK7VA/WjBb9lfMBrI/AAAAAAAAHYE/iI3OxntrKFIQxXAfproi7qKzRxyLGvgdgCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_1401.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I had a good busy line all night. The Schulz Museum printed up little posters of "A Fire Story" and gave them to everyone, which I thought was a real nice thing to do. I signed a lot of those.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pe4akB5RWC4/WjBb9RylFGI/AAAAAAAAHX8/GiJFM321d5k8T9Y_XN6zrdV_-z8-ylTIwCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_1414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pe4akB5RWC4/WjBb9RylFGI/AAAAAAAAHX8/GiJFM321d5k8T9Y_XN6zrdV_-z8-ylTIwCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_1414.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pastis and me at work.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qIEYSkKqDq8/WjBXAU5mzxI/AAAAAAAAHXs/uXSBfjOOYf4DlNIDzVXsIhAAmUAQZ6qCwCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_1409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qIEYSkKqDq8/WjBXAU5mzxI/AAAAAAAAHXs/uXSBfjOOYf4DlNIDzVXsIhAAmUAQZ6qCwCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_1409.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Other signing lines: From foreground right to background left, that's Raina Telgemeier, Judd Winick, Andrew Atteberry, and, standing, Dave Eggers talking to Jeannie Schulz.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vGaCyIyddW4/WjBb9S4SGKI/AAAAAAAAHYA/9nhl7G3EWAoKe_rcpA5zkWedj2xjm4HYACEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_7212.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vGaCyIyddW4/WjBb9S4SGKI/AAAAAAAAHYA/9nhl7G3EWAoKe_rcpA5zkWedj2xjm4HYACEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_7212.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's great about this photo is that someone had asked me to draw a picture of Linus and Snoopy cuddling under Linus's blanket (I'm using the image on her phone as a reference). I joked about this being the worst possible place and time to be caught committing a copyright violation and made a big show of looking over my shoulder. Seconds later, guess who showed up and caught me red-handed.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I really appreciated the chance to meet Andrew Atteberry, gush at Dave Eggers, get to know Judd Winick better, and spend some time with Raina Telegemeier and her dad. Also the many people who stood in line for signings and such, many of them old good friends.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Great people, full house, and overall a really nice night. Thanks to all!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-43072929864148803332017-11-08T08:27:00.000-08:002017-11-08T08:30:25.735-08:00An Animated Fire StoryNow THIS is cool, by San Francisco PBS station KQED. <br /><br />Arts Editor Gabe Meline--who self-published zines when he was a kid in my hometown--proposed the idea, and Video Producer Kelly Whalen (now I know TWO women by that name!) came to my daughters' house to record Karen and me.<br /><br />&nbsp;I think it's cleverly and sensitively done. In particular, Kelly and animator Farrin Abbott had to edit "A Fire Story" for time but ran all the proposed revisions by me to be sure I was OK with everything, and shared a rough cut as well. The version below is a "director's cut" that includes the original story's profanity. There's also a version that omits it because KQED hopes other PBS stations will pick it up.<br /><br />Many thanks to Gabe, Kelly, Farrin and KQED. I'm very happy with both the process and its result.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/241621786?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe> <a href="https://vimeo.com/241621786">A Santa Rosa Cartoonist’s ‘Fire Story’ Comes to Life</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/kqedarts">KQED Arts</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br /><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-17910259869628327662017-11-03T19:38:00.000-07:002017-11-04T10:20:26.204-07:00All I've Got is a PhotographThat title courtesy of Ringo Starr....<br /><br />As we dig through the remains of our house, I've been taking photos of things that catch my eye. Some are sad, some are just weird.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6ssWn3GP5w/Wf0kD9eMjLI/AAAAAAAAHVQ/edvr9qQJrpo8K8gX_VC49XZkl-9J8IaEQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6ssWn3GP5w/Wf0kD9eMjLI/AAAAAAAAHVQ/edvr9qQJrpo8K8gX_VC49XZkl-9J8IaEQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3381.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Formerly a Honda Accord, left in my garage the night of the fire. The insurance agent on the phone didn't quite believe that when I said "totaled" I meant "TOTALED."</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QxF1VffJ7-g/Wf0kD5306LI/AAAAAAAAHVM/GWjb_I4HZgIcmJXWyy7AodkSLOKlD2BMgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QxF1VffJ7-g/Wf0kD5306LI/AAAAAAAAHVM/GWjb_I4HZgIcmJXWyy7AodkSLOKlD2BMgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3478.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm pretty sure this handful of ashes was a copy of my book <i>Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?</i> My publisher and I went to great effort to layer two different types of paper in the book, never knowing it would have forensic applications someday.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nmOFpWG14j4/Wf0kDFRwVEI/AAAAAAAAHVI/KgoePtPoOz0GGJi84dMQCS7ayJ0ejDVFwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nmOFpWG14j4/Wf0kDFRwVEI/AAAAAAAAHVI/KgoePtPoOz0GGJi84dMQCS7ayJ0ejDVFwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3483.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We found these Art Deco salt and paper shakers that belonged to Karen's grandmother sitting side by side straight up in the ashes. They barely look scorched. So far, this is our miracle recovery.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oP35K0Ksg4c/Wf0kFrXQ_7I/AAAAAAAAHVU/zVpsIeHB6Yoa18DK9hY8HamtdKpWYU2OgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oP35K0Ksg4c/Wf0kFrXQ_7I/AAAAAAAAHVU/zVpsIeHB6Yoa18DK9hY8HamtdKpWYU2OgCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_3521.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A molten mass of glass, porcelain and other matrices, built around a little swan at its center. It's almost pretty.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aWPk7VabMoY/Wf0kGarEemI/AAAAAAAAHVY/lAdR6jgOUAIv41F4viKPFoEuGzY62uX4gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3522.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aWPk7VabMoY/Wf0kGarEemI/AAAAAAAAHVY/lAdR6jgOUAIv41F4viKPFoEuGzY62uX4gCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3522.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two steel cans full of change, mostly pennies. Anyone interested in making a quick six bucks drop me a note and I'll send them your way.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rKgTnCYJ1Ms/Wf0kGt-tqrI/AAAAAAAAHVc/1Wv0GQ4wpSYWp4Ilovo-0rL1oif6vj-UACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rKgTnCYJ1Ms/Wf0kGt-tqrI/AAAAAAAAHVc/1Wv0GQ4wpSYWp4Ilovo-0rL1oif6vj-UACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A surprising survivor: a relatively fragile terra cotta drum, formerly topped by leather drumheads. The fact that terra cotta came through OK makes sense, although many other fired ceramic pieces became very brittle and fell apart in our hands.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RY0_1mfg528/Wf0kHaio8mI/AAAAAAAAHVg/EwXF6r-d0S4uPG3dnohR9ksCqG6ex6YiACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RY0_1mfg528/Wf0kHaio8mI/AAAAAAAAHVg/EwXF6r-d0S4uPG3dnohR9ksCqG6ex6YiACLcBGAs/s640/IMG_3545.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My neighbor's car bled molten aluminum all over his driveway.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yRhkq3Q1zIY/Wf0kMj2GI9I/AAAAAAAAHVk/zqz2QZxkvHQ9C_TpCaQHNdHEeYJAZRhOQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yRhkq3Q1zIY/Wf0kMj2GI9I/AAAAAAAAHVk/zqz2QZxkvHQ9C_TpCaQHNdHEeYJAZRhOQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3589.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The EPA sent inspectors around to basically look for any jugs, bottles and cans of hazardous chemicals. Since every jug, bottle and can in our neighborhood melted, their task was quick and easy.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_pbSQgvwtQ/Wf0kN8SgGAI/AAAAAAAAHVo/1joBTc0lC5InF5bOH-K6vrNpzTPgzoBlwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_pbSQgvwtQ/Wf0kN8SgGAI/AAAAAAAAHVo/1joBTc0lC5InF5bOH-K6vrNpzTPgzoBlwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3591.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old manual typewriter that got me through high school and college.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fyzODqmWHl0/Wf0kNwTL-VI/AAAAAAAAHVs/XoWnwyFpGqAKAqvqFj4Cw1deGj8XYpwgwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fyzODqmWHl0/Wf0kNwTL-VI/AAAAAAAAHVs/XoWnwyFpGqAKAqvqFj4Cw1deGj8XYpwgwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3592.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A long-arm stapler I found in the footprint of my studio. Coincidentally, I took the photo below of the very same stapler just a couple of weeks ago to post to a Facebook discussion about staplers, because that's the sort of topic that comes up from time to time. I really liked that stapler.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7uwpVaVeYjI/Wf0mzOV6nzI/AAAAAAAAHWI/TUDT5hpJXTUAchl-MkjIEZjpcAbHHoiOgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7uwpVaVeYjI/Wf0mzOV6nzI/AAAAAAAAHWI/TUDT5hpJXTUAchl-MkjIEZjpcAbHHoiOgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_3066.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XfzXfDfYp0c/Wf0kOeYKXCI/AAAAAAAAHVw/4SYtBnAcU500RHGJ7T5cVgt0H2KD7CeqQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_3593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XfzXfDfYp0c/Wf0kOeYKXCI/AAAAAAAAHVw/4SYtBnAcU500RHGJ7T5cVgt0H2KD7CeqQCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_3593.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm pretty sure this is Mom's Flower: a delicate little bulb plant that for years after her death bloomed on her birthday, August 22. It didn't bloom this year, which we chalked up to weird weather and such. Looks like it's coming up now.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-62872256526199501602017-10-31T16:36:00.000-07:002017-11-01T17:05:31.486-07:00A Little UpdateIt's very hard for me to believe it's been three weeks since the fire.<br /><br />We're hanging in there. Karen and I just bought a car this afternoon to replace the one that burned up in our garage.<br /><br />I did these two pages at the request of a TV station that's adapting <a href="http://brianfies.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-fire-story-complete.html">"A Fire Story"</a> into something really special. I'll tell you all about it when it's time. They asked "How are you doing now?" and I wrote and drew this in response.<br /><br />I expect I'll have a lot more to say about this experience in time. Starting to feel like maybe I can process it into something interesting.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FK4jN144R2Y/WfkIa3WH8nI/AAAAAAAAHU0/9xclRYJCumsn2VG32MJ52XJJbN_mRBqxwCLcBGAs/s1600/fire%2B150%2B19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1434" data-original-width="1033" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FK4jN144R2Y/WfkIa3WH8nI/AAAAAAAAHU0/9xclRYJCumsn2VG32MJ52XJJbN_mRBqxwCLcBGAs/s640/fire%2B150%2B19.jpg" width="460" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-niTx7gHsKZE/WfkIa2g4bSI/AAAAAAAAHU4/kCJCaHqBAhc4mL067sWCyscHpbG-oNKNgCLcBGAs/s1600/fire%2B150%2B20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1450" data-original-width="1038" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-niTx7gHsKZE/WfkIa2g4bSI/AAAAAAAAHU4/kCJCaHqBAhc4mL067sWCyscHpbG-oNKNgCLcBGAs/s640/fire%2B150%2B20.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><br /><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-85995049075026937232017-10-15T10:50:00.000-07:002017-10-31T18:01:47.106-07:00A Fire Story, COMPLETEThis is <i>A Fire Story. </i>Today's Part 2 is below, but I also reposted Friday's Part 1 so the complete story would be together in one place.<br /><br />Which is not to say I won't do more, depending on what else happens.<br /><br />It's much less polished than my usual work, but that's part of the point. Writing, penciling and inking an 18-page comic like this would normally take me a few weeks. I did this over parts of four days using a bad brush pen and art supplies from Target--Sharpie pens, highlighters and crummy paper--because Target was the only open store I could find within 20 miles.<br /><br />It's a first-person report from the front line. They're not always pretty.<br /><br />Page 9 has some profanity. Actually, it has nothing <i>but</i> profanity. Sorry. I wrestled with that, but that's exactly the way it happened and I am an honest reporter.<br /><br />My family, pets and I are all fine--a lot better off than many others. There's not a person in the county who hasn't been touched by this disaster. Karen and I know at least a hundred people burned out of their homes, including a lot of cops, firefighters, and government staff who've been working hard for others all week.<br /><br /><i>A Fire Story</i> has drawn a lot of readers, Facebook comments and shares, and other attention. I appreciate that deeply. Thanks.<br /><br />We'll be fine. I'll keep you posted as we rebuild.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hFL8Zpn9mgI/WfH5P8Tk0yI/AAAAAAAAHUQ/_CSpokuAxU001OFRn16AZnXR-WMOGqm7QCLcBGAs/s1600/Fire%2B150%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1480" data-original-width="1028" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hFL8Zpn9mgI/WfH5P8Tk0yI/AAAAAAAAHUQ/_CSpokuAxU001OFRn16AZnXR-WMOGqm7QCLcBGAs/s640/Fire%2B150%2B1.jpg" width="444" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H7oHTMJvFKo/WeOexN0WWZI/AAAAAAAAHS4/MQTdmHmCnxcS8fF9GRyNYowwrz8_PDCagCLcBGAs/s1600/Fire%2B150%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1446" data-original-width="1029" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H7oHTMJvFKo/WeOexN0WWZI/AAAAAAAAHS4/MQTdmHmCnxcS8fF9GRyNYowwrz8_PDCagCLcBGAs/s640/Fire%2B150%2B2.jpg" width="454" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DVUVUReH9r4/WeOez1DAvcI/AAAAAAAAHTs/K6pET2f_EIEDjLDpNPFxSV8jpQDS6n7xACLcBGAs/s1600/fire%2B150%2B15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1446" data-original-width="1050" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DVUVUReH9r4/WeOez1DAvcI/AAAAAAAAHTs/K6pET2f_EIEDjLDpNPFxSV8jpQDS6n7xACLcBGAs/s640/fire%2B150%2B15.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QeWweP5TwtM/WeOe0MgDEyI/AAAAAAAAHTw/SJ-YbEjO_ncmgD3WG71dGf9BgodXwukoQCLcBGAs/s1600/fire%2B150%2B16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1454" data-original-width="1046" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QeWweP5TwtM/WeOe0MgDEyI/AAAAAAAAHTw/SJ-YbEjO_ncmgD3WG71dGf9BgodXwukoQCLcBGAs/s640/fire%2B150%2B16.jpg" width="460" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pWs9pysPt_4/WeOe0J97OoI/AAAAAAAAHT0/JQTgXIeLCtU9rOpikSuCWlEYBs_mfPW3gCLcBGAs/s1600/fire%2B150%2B17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1458" data-original-width="1036" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pWs9pysPt_4/WeOe0J97OoI/AAAAAAAAHT0/JQTgXIeLCtU9rOpikSuCWlEYBs_mfPW3gCLcBGAs/s640/fire%2B150%2B17.jpg" width="454" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EgmMMa8l1B0/WeOe0YrRk4I/AAAAAAAAHT4/C_3j26cpg18ITFZ6JQTwsk0c11ooOKlgwCLcBGAs/s1600/fire%2B150%2B18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1442" data-original-width="1022" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EgmMMa8l1B0/WeOe0YrRk4I/AAAAAAAAHT4/C_3j26cpg18ITFZ6JQTwsk0c11ooOKlgwCLcBGAs/s640/fire%2B150%2B18.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b><b>OCTOBER 31:</b> Three weeks after the fire, I posted a short update as <a href="http://brianfies.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-little-update.html">my next blog post, HERE.</a> Thanks again for reading.Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-45855298893613941722017-10-13T12:30:00.000-07:002017-10-26T08:06:05.468-07:00A Fire Story, Part 1My house burned down. I made a comic about it.<br /><br />That seems to be how I handle trauma. It's kind of a feature and a bug.<br /><br />This is quick, loose work. Materials: Pencil, Sharpie pens, highlighter markers, and one nearly dry brush-pen on crummy paper. These eight pages are Part 1; I have another eight pages planned that I'll post as soon as they're done.<br /><br />I'd be pleased if you'd consider this as a journalistic dispatch from the front.<br /><br />--Brian<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eJ_zImHNnP4/WfH5vCF-zHI/AAAAAAAAHUY/1srV6dCfmJovbLepmdVSBugkLyZH4h81gCLcBGAs/s1600/Fire%2B150%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1480" data-original-width="1028" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eJ_zImHNnP4/WfH5vCF-zHI/AAAAAAAAHUY/1srV6dCfmJovbLepmdVSBugkLyZH4h81gCLcBGAs/s640/Fire%2B150%2B1.jpg" width="444" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gav3nDVDrgs/WeET2bQMeQI/AAAAAAAAHRU/EVlLy8pXAMctUCUvYx7YuAFENEu7zmjdwCLcBGAs/s1600/Fire%2B150%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1446" data-original-width="1029" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gav3nDVDrgs/WeET2bQMeQI/AAAAAAAAHRU/EVlLy8pXAMctUCUvYx7YuAFENEu7zmjdwCLcBGAs/s640/Fire%2B150%2B2.jpg" width="454" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hNrHBn4ecOY/WeET2UiWF7I/AAAAAAAAHRY/TRFbzm4PFekUtiuW5FOq9EqahmmsWHpbwCLcBGAs/s1600/Fire%2B150%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="1051" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hNrHBn4ecOY/WeET2UiWF7I/AAAAAAAAHRY/TRFbzm4PFekUtiuW5FOq9EqahmmsWHpbwCLcBGAs/s640/Fire%2B150%2B3.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kGyKfn7ZGd4/WeEhaQv9q3I/AAAAAAAAHSQ/LMR7lllCPksN4pbhLMf61Fd6Gm1GKnLWACLcBGAs/s1600/Fire%2B150%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1450" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kGyKfn7ZGd4/WeEhaQv9q3I/AAAAAAAAHSQ/LMR7lllCPksN4pbhLMf61Fd6Gm1GKnLWACLcBGAs/s640/Fire%2B150%2B4.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yZ95d8CxNkI/WfH51LQoPWI/AAAAAAAAHUk/_0ykOXY4gd8Z05T0HStBEX9vw0FDtj7aACLcBGAs/s1600/Fire%2B150%2B5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1455" data-original-width="1058" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yZ95d8CxNkI/WfH51LQoPWI/AAAAAAAAHUk/_0ykOXY4gd8Z05T0HStBEX9vw0FDtj7aACLcBGAs/s640/Fire%2B150%2B5.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J45Wpzkz3Ec/WeEWCaQFuQI/AAAAAAAAHSA/Zgtt7vcODcMQsnBjIbU9ALFAdv4GMD5hgCLcBGAs/s1600/Fire%2B150%2B6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1458" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J45Wpzkz3Ec/WeEWCaQFuQI/AAAAAAAAHSA/Zgtt7vcODcMQsnBjIbU9ALFAdv4GMD5hgCLcBGAs/s640/Fire%2B150%2B6.jpg" width="456" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zqyD-dABLLw/WeET3pVjm8I/AAAAAAAAHRs/apAT4N_K-qY1FaJ8IzxCPqVmyBe5m_zvQCLcBGAs/s1600/Fire%2B150%2B7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1442" data-original-width="1046" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zqyD-dABLLw/WeET3pVjm8I/AAAAAAAAHRs/apAT4N_K-qY1FaJ8IzxCPqVmyBe5m_zvQCLcBGAs/s640/Fire%2B150%2B7.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xKcltYOPMgw/WeET3obZrbI/AAAAAAAAHRw/tDurKL9HKnwGTu41hkj7-p_UR6fIEH3MwCLcBGAs/s1600/Fire%2B150%2B8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1457" data-original-width="1050" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xKcltYOPMgw/WeET3obZrbI/AAAAAAAAHRw/tDurKL9HKnwGTu41hkj7-p_UR6fIEH3MwCLcBGAs/s640/Fire%2B150%2B8.jpg" width="460" /></a></div><br />Part 2 spoiler alert: Everything was not just fine.<br /><br />EDITED Sunday to Add: The rest of "A Fire Story" is now up. Read the whole thing on <a href="https://brianfies.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-fire-story-complete.html">the next post (click on the link to go)</a>. Thanks.<br /><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-41615885044705973562017-10-13T08:44:00.002-07:002017-10-13T08:55:15.486-07:00It's the End of the World as We Know It, and I Feel . . . Well, Not Fine, ExactlyMany friends and family already know that my home in Santa Rosa, Calif., burned to the ground early Monday morning. Important Part: My wife Karen and I, and our dog and cat, got out alive. We had about 15 minutes to throw our lives into the back of a car and evacuate. I'm typing this on a computer in my daughters' apartment 30 miles away, where we've been bunking since. Karen's working long, hard days as part of our county's emergency response team. "Normal" is such a distant goal that we can't even see it on the horizon.<br /><br />However, we've been so touched by the deep compassion, generosity, and kindness of so many of our friends, locally and around the world. Offers of anything we need, or just sympathy when there's nothing else they can do. Most extraordinarily, my high school friend Allison has offered us her late mother's vacant house in Santa Rosa, and we're taking her up on it. I've often doubted it but never will again: most people are very good.<br /><br />I'll have more story to tell about the fire later--hope to post something I hope you'll find interesting later today. Just wanted to send up a flag saying we're alive, well, relatively mentally healthy (though we and the pets all have a touch of PTSD jitters), and figuring out what the hell to do next.<br /><br />Here are a few photos of what our region has been through. The first one is a snapshot I took from our street as we evacuated at 1:30 a.m. The rest are from news sources.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e59SR4uUkD4/WeDdY3luurI/AAAAAAAAHQo/eUBD-dIolhE1dxX_G7PGyfgtuG-Fx8lJACLcBGAs/s1600/Neighborhood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e59SR4uUkD4/WeDdY3luurI/AAAAAAAAHQo/eUBD-dIolhE1dxX_G7PGyfgtuG-Fx8lJACLcBGAs/s400/Neighborhood.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0CbORv_sxe4/WeDdfRlQ07I/AAAAAAAAHQs/-UwCTjCuOGw3ISM_ipXNwfRRuhcVyYBkgCLcBGAs/s1600/Mordor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0CbORv_sxe4/WeDdfRlQ07I/AAAAAAAAHQs/-UwCTjCuOGw3ISM_ipXNwfRRuhcVyYBkgCLcBGAs/s400/Mordor.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dASl8dBN1IY/WeDdfWJMh5I/AAAAAAAAHQw/GrDhQV_W2KAt6EpNlQtaq97oXMaPrNuBwCLcBGAs/s1600/Mushroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dASl8dBN1IY/WeDdfWJMh5I/AAAAAAAAHQw/GrDhQV_W2KAt6EpNlQtaq97oXMaPrNuBwCLcBGAs/s400/Mushroom.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gj7t3BMOWgE/WeDeDrHHxwI/AAAAAAAAHQ4/iLsOcYG4mUwLUN9UQrktEeoM0bOM2I9qQCLcBGAs/s1600/Satellite%2BFlat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1086" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gj7t3BMOWgE/WeDeDrHHxwI/AAAAAAAAHQ4/iLsOcYG4mUwLUN9UQrktEeoM0bOM2I9qQCLcBGAs/s640/Satellite%2BFlat.jpg" width="434" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GjyR1teDma4/WeDh0UHZwtI/AAAAAAAAHRE/ukgtDdDnIYsJHN9DsG-pqsmey_IId-jeQCLcBGAs/s1600/Los%2BGatos%2BCt%2BLayers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="425" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GjyR1teDma4/WeDh0UHZwtI/AAAAAAAAHRE/ukgtDdDnIYsJHN9DsG-pqsmey_IId-jeQCLcBGAs/s640/Los%2BGatos%2BCt%2BLayers.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-91980883593324167052017-08-23T13:05:00.001-07:002017-08-28T09:47:42.215-07:00Eclipse 2017: Roadtrip to Infinity!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iy4ejaM4bBM/WZ3O8ryBuiI/AAAAAAAAHOU/luCOjBbEjhoTtXH4AiOZ54LYL-zKtYaFgCLcBGAs/s1600/Oregon%2BMap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1168" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iy4ejaM4bBM/WZ3O8ryBuiI/AAAAAAAAHOU/luCOjBbEjhoTtXH4AiOZ54LYL-zKtYaFgCLcBGAs/s400/Oregon%2BMap.jpg" width="291" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My hand-marked map for our journey. Dashed green line is approximately the south edge of totality; solid green line is the eclipse path's midpoint.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Interstate 5 is a (mostly) four-lane ribbon of pavement that runs from San Diego to Vancouver, right up the spine of the West Coast. A few friends told me my plan to drive I-5 from the San Francisco Bay Area to Oregon for the August 21 total solar eclipse was mad. Millions of others would be making the same trip. Better a rutted gravel trail in Wyoming than I-5!<br /><br />Nevertheless, my daughters Laura and Robin and I made our plans and hit the road.<br /><br />This was my girls' first total solar eclipse and my second. In February 1979, some college friends and I hopped aboard Amtrak's Coast Starlight (by "hopped" I mean in the non-fare-paying sense), slept overnight in the lounge car and got off in Portland, which turned out to be the only spot in the eclipse path completely covered in clouds. It was still awesome. Night fell in the morning, and I sensed in my bones a bit of the terror my ancestors must have felt when dragons devoured the Sun. This time I aimed to stare the dragon in the eye.<br /><br />I have relatives and friends along I-5 in Oregon but didn't want to impose on them, especially when we rolled through town at 5 a.m. Ours was a commando raid requiring speed and stealth. My contingency plans had contingency plans. "If we get stopped by traffic here, then we'll detour to there or there." For weeks ahead I lost sleep driving the backroads of the Willamette Valley in my mind.<br /><br />I needn't have worried. Going up I-5 was a dream. Traffic was occasionally dense but rarely dipped below the speed limit. We even relaxed enough to stop and take in some sights. Photos below by me and my girls.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UYeTo7nEdXg/WZ3OKSjK0pI/AAAAAAAAHOM/xvfAXSCE-4cu9tb9tcV__ZvfhHbhvhAhQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2824%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UYeTo7nEdXg/WZ3OKSjK0pI/AAAAAAAAHOM/xvfAXSCE-4cu9tb9tcV__ZvfhHbhvhAhQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2824%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mt. Shasta floated like a spectre through the smoky air. Nearby wildfires produced a choking haze through northern California and southern Oregon, but cleared completely as we drove north.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I chose the town of Jefferson, Oregon because it was near I-5 and just south of the eclipse path's centerline. I figured that if I went <i>north</i> of the centerline I'd be jockeying with mobs coming down from Seattle and Portland. I also wanted to be east of I-5 in case I needed to flee coastal clouds. We rolled into Jefferson about two hours before the eclipse began around 9 a.m.<br /><br />I'd scouted out Jefferson on Google Maps' satellite view and found three possible viewing sites: a cemetery on a hill that'd have great views to the east, a junior high school, and a high school. I also had visions of offering random homeowners $20 to let us sit in their front yard. Unfortunately, Google Maps couldn't tell me that the Jefferson cemetery's gate was locked until 8 a.m., nor whether the local schools had opened for fall classes. A sign on the high school read "School pictures and orientation August 24." They were still on summer vacation! Lucky break! But the school's parking lot gates were locked. Bad break! But around the corner next to the junior high school was a city park I hadn't noticed.<br /><br />Best break of all.<br /><br />I'd run through a lot of scenarios when I planned our eclipse trip, but in none of those scenarios did I imagine I'd find an empty picnic table in a beautiful 20-acre park I'd be sharing with only a few dozen other people.<br /><br />Our park companions were an almost stereotypical cross-section of folks you'd expect to turn out for an eclipse. Families with kids and lawn chairs and a solar pinhole projector made from a Pringles can. A group of amateur scientists who set out a fleet of telescopes and cameras. A hippie waiting to dance in the energy of a cosmic convergence. If we'd wanted to be alone there was plenty of space to move to another corner of the park, but these people were good company.<br /><br />We set out our little buffet breakfast on the picnic table and waited.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bMKLIUcgo2s/WZ3Rb6BytUI/AAAAAAAAHOg/qBXg4eI_Bz4o5twWgMG6gfB5ua6orQvKwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bMKLIUcgo2s/WZ3Rb6BytUI/AAAAAAAAHOg/qBXg4eI_Bz4o5twWgMG6gfB5ua6orQvKwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2865.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At our picnic table for breakfast, including a bag of little chocolate donuts, the Official Waxy Snack Cake of the 2017 Eclipse. That's the Science Gang behind us, and Jefferson High School in the far background. Lots of empty open space and blue skies!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tGRCReOhJd4/WZ3Rn-0Nb0I/AAAAAAAAHOk/zwB9wmn35f0JtDOhgQyoUrlox3vRdZaxQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tGRCReOhJd4/WZ3Rn-0Nb0I/AAAAAAAAHOk/zwB9wmn35f0JtDOhgQyoUrlox3vRdZaxQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2892.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A good overview of our set-up. We took the picnic table to the left, another group grabbed the one on the right, with the Science Gang at back right. The exact latitude and longitude of our bench is 44.730696 by -123.011945 if you wanna look it up.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rVy1KHVgP3Y/WZ3RyANDBmI/AAAAAAAAHOs/qftkxT-5yvkYfxoWPbNrrbxAMeKK6AoVACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rVy1KHVgP3Y/WZ3RyANDBmI/AAAAAAAAHOs/qftkxT-5yvkYfxoWPbNrrbxAMeKK6AoVACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2887.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Science Gang brought some nifty equipment, including a telescope with a hydrogen-alpha filter, which reveals details in the Sun's surface, and another that projected an image of the Sun onto a white screen.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kdzoECYte_k/WZ3RxmGpvWI/AAAAAAAAHOo/A3PzOhcF4VQy1PU8jm-jMtI5ZPqRJ6MAACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kdzoECYte_k/WZ3RxmGpvWI/AAAAAAAAHOo/A3PzOhcF4VQy1PU8jm-jMtI5ZPqRJ6MAACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2893.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This projected image shows a nice string of sunspots and, at upper left, the very beginning of the Moon taking a bite out of the Sun.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EKQFU_an228/WZ3R5CAs9EI/AAAAAAAAHOw/j85vWjA4on07g29AvSuHXscXqTpf9NK0QCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EKQFU_an228/WZ3R5CAs9EI/AAAAAAAAHOw/j85vWjA4on07g29AvSuHXscXqTpf9NK0QCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2934.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laura and Robin and me. Also the hippie in the background limbering up to dance.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I'd brought only modest equipment. Mostly I just wanted to watch. I set up an old digital camera on a tripod to record video of the entire eclipse--"old" because I wasn't sure whether staring at the Sun for five minutes would destroy it, and didn't mind taking the chance. (It didn't.) I set up another camera on a tripod to take snapshots. I brought binoculars, with firm instructions that they only come out during totality. And I brought a piece of pegboard I found in my garage, which turned out to be the most fun and useful of all.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1dCQF6J9mzs/WZ3XPJhB-TI/AAAAAAAAHPE/S145Ad4UkrEgdhI8GuMReLMOi1jT84XowCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2913.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1dCQF6J9mzs/WZ3XPJhB-TI/AAAAAAAAHPE/S145Ad4UkrEgdhI8GuMReLMOi1jT84XowCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2913.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hundreds of holes in a sheet of ordinary pegboard (or colander or <i>anything</i> with hundreds of little holes in it) act like pinhole camera lenses to project an upside-down image of the Sun. Here Laura holds the board while Robin finds a nice focal length with a paper plate screen.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-emKBqrwdHzE/WZ3XOX_74aI/AAAAAAAAHPA/Iz1Yp7DWxDIb1K_WiqEtMTfcw1yM6-pRwCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_2908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-emKBqrwdHzE/WZ3XOX_74aI/AAAAAAAAHPA/Iz1Yp7DWxDIb1K_WiqEtMTfcw1yM6-pRwCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_2908.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b6LSVwoLit8/WZ3XcH20qYI/AAAAAAAAHPI/bPFA11MSbD4IiEOnIpDT_JxNxrWkemxPwCEwYBhgL/s1600/Fies%2BEclipse%2BHead%2BShot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1229" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b6LSVwoLit8/WZ3XcH20qYI/AAAAAAAAHPI/bPFA11MSbD4IiEOnIpDT_JxNxrWkemxPwCEwYBhgL/s400/Fies%2BEclipse%2BHead%2BShot.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I asked my girls to take some pictures of me lit up by crescent Suns with the idea it'd make a neat Facebook profile pic, and maybe a future author's photo for a book jacket. I think this one's my favorite.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gl-BYLjaywo/WZ3XtmyBXhI/AAAAAAAAHPM/8sL_2_2SYewmt1ewcC1dtlAajk6E4Y1xgCLcBGAs/s1600/Photo%2BAug%2B21%252C%2B9%2B51%2B36%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gl-BYLjaywo/WZ3XtmyBXhI/AAAAAAAAHPM/8sL_2_2SYewmt1ewcC1dtlAajk6E4Y1xgCLcBGAs/s400/Photo%2BAug%2B21%252C%2B9%2B51%2B36%2BAM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once everyone saw me do it, they <i>all</i> wanted to be photographed aglow with crescent Suns. Here I'm holding the pegboard for a couple of women who might have been visiting from Sweden (not sure, their English wasn't good and conversation was irrelevant).&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Eclipse. First contact. "Diamond ring" effect. Totality.<br /><br />It didn't get as dark as I expected. In 1979, Portland fell into midnight blackness. This time, the sky felt like dusk an hour after sunset, with an orange-pink glow all around.<br /><br />Photographs don't do a total eclipse justice. There's a richness of color and an almost three-dimensional effect impossible to capture except live with the eye.<br /><br />The solar corona--the white hairy wisps of energy sweeping outward from the Sun--is achingly beautiful.<br /><br />The disk of the Moon itself may be the blackest black I've ever seen.<br /><br />I tried to take some still photos that, with one exception, failed. I shouldn't have bothered.<br /><br />I forgot to use the binoculars, but my daughters both did.<br /><br />A photocell-controlled street light at the nearby swimming pool turned on.<br /><br />Two minutes went by really fast.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7iE6-9X5pJ0/WZ3b06rxj8I/AAAAAAAAHPo/UMdcd_dNxckaYzblOGSH5cNYWRWre02OwCLcBGAs/s1600/Photo%2BAug%2B21%252C%2B9%2B54%2B00%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7iE6-9X5pJ0/WZ3b06rxj8I/AAAAAAAAHPo/UMdcd_dNxckaYzblOGSH5cNYWRWre02OwCLcBGAs/s400/Photo%2BAug%2B21%252C%2B9%2B54%2B00%2BAM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My daughters noticed these wavelike clouds, called Kelvin-Helmholzt clouds, which I don't think had anything to do with the eclipse but lent it a little artistic flourish.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ltdyXeDM6mM/WZ3b00PcQKI/AAAAAAAAHPk/mEhgvEB96tcDbcCfkNlGFtKNijYBODlLgCLcBGAs/s1600/Photo%2BAug%2B21%252C%2B10%2B15%2B02%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ltdyXeDM6mM/WZ3b00PcQKI/AAAAAAAAHPk/mEhgvEB96tcDbcCfkNlGFtKNijYBODlLgCLcBGAs/s400/Photo%2BAug%2B21%252C%2B10%2B15%2B02%2BAM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The same clouds appear here near totality. As my daughter Robin noted, compare these two photos to get a feel for how the quality of light changed as the Sun shrank to a sliver. It's neat and eerie.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4ms2DO9Wk0I/WZ3jyNBgqAI/AAAAAAAAHP4/kTuRSmxA8EwRArsGZeJlLZyJjmzgtsygwCLcBGAs/s1600/Emergency%2BAlerts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="626" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4ms2DO9Wk0I/WZ3jyNBgqAI/AAAAAAAAHP4/kTuRSmxA8EwRArsGZeJlLZyJjmzgtsygwCLcBGAs/s400/Emergency%2BAlerts.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As totality approached, everyone's smart phones throughout the park began to chirp and bleat as officials broadcast emergency alerts. The last one is interesting: exactly how many rock climbers did the authorities expect to need rescuing during a two-minute eclipse?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qzIkOwCyDUw/WZ3b0tBmGvI/AAAAAAAAHPg/gCh7f305mBsZxL8AE1m2IkjT61_fvIfAQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Photo%2BAug%2B21%252C%2B10%2B18%2B44%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qzIkOwCyDUw/WZ3b0tBmGvI/AAAAAAAAHPg/gCh7f305mBsZxL8AE1m2IkjT61_fvIfAQCEwYBhgL/s400/Photo%2BAug%2B21%252C%2B10%2B18%2B44%2BAM.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Totality. The iPhone automatically adjusted its exposure to make the image look brighter than it was. You can't tell in this picture that the Sun was blocked, but it was. Notice the 360-degree "sunrise" on the horizon and the street light that clicked on at lower left.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kaJZAWwqoDI/WZ3br0VR63I/AAAAAAAAHPc/na01OtOSSuo0V2rDlcmyRm-ldwB6N8cbgCEwYBhgL/s1600/DSCN1101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kaJZAWwqoDI/WZ3br0VR63I/AAAAAAAAHPc/na01OtOSSuo0V2rDlcmyRm-ldwB6N8cbgCEwYBhgL/s640/DSCN1101.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My one good picture. The three prongs of light coming off of it were real--that was the solar corona, which to the eye was a wispy web of light. There's also one small spot of light to the lower left of the eclipse. I assumed it was a speck of dust on my lens until my friend Teri told me her pictures had the same speck. Turns out it's Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />We packed up and hit the road with alacrity, and joined a pretty bad traffic jam going south on I-5. Still, it wasn't intolerable--we all compared it to a typical Bay Area rush hour backup, and settled in as patiently as we could. Thirty or forty miles later the jam was largely broken up, though knots and slowdowns persisted for another couple hundred miles. Still better than reports I heard from friends who took many hours to drive a few miles out of remoter spots.<br /><br />All in all, I-5 served us very well. The two minutes were worth two and a half days on the road. We got home exhausted but glad we went (at least Laura and Robin <i>said</i> they were glad, but they may have just been humoring their old man).<br /><br />I hear the next U.S. eclipse in 2024 will cast a larger shadow, which means it'll last twice as long and make the sky much darker. That's only seven years from now. Time to start making some plans.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DbEV7HwB1wg/WaLucNt12tI/AAAAAAAAHQY/U88UIVECBn8qQuK05RRWhAOLRpsfO3mmgCLcBGAs/s1600/Photo%2BAug%2B21%252C%2B6%2B07%2B16%2BAM%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DbEV7HwB1wg/WaLucNt12tI/AAAAAAAAHQY/U88UIVECBn8qQuK05RRWhAOLRpsfO3mmgCLcBGAs/s400/Photo%2BAug%2B21%252C%2B6%2B07%2B16%2BAM%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-51214697364889670192017-08-14T15:34:00.000-07:002017-08-16T11:06:22.627-07:00The Schulz Museum's 15th. I Got More Than A Rock.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OqUhpdsCQJE/WZHFGoG1yjI/AAAAAAAAHL4/C9FchuizPvQe8MGcG-vlclPyphCSElnFQCLcBGAs/s1600/20799424_10154523987942924_4915087433706552529_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="960" height="370" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OqUhpdsCQJE/WZHFGoG1yjI/AAAAAAAAHL4/C9FchuizPvQe8MGcG-vlclPyphCSElnFQCLcBGAs/s640/20799424_10154523987942924_4915087433706552529_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cartoonists, Schulz Museum staff, and Schulz Studio staff gathered for a group photo at the end of the day. Somewhere in this photo are Svetlana Chmakova, Donna Almendrala, Maia Kobabe,Tom Beland, Denis St. John, Paige Braddock, Lex Fajardo, Andy Runton, museum education director Jessica Ruskin, Andrew Farago, Nathan Hale, Jeff Smith, Jeannie Schulz, Raina Telgemeier, and a lot of other fine people. Also me. Matching names with faces is left as an exercise for the reader.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Saturday was a good day. I got to help the <a href="http://www.schulzmuseum.org/">Charles M. Schulz Museum</a> celebrate its 15th anniversary. One of the museum's secret weapons is the impressive amount of cartooning talent within an hour's drive (which includes San Francisco), both working for the Schulz Studio and doing their own things. Virtually all of them grew up loving and influenced by <i>Peanuts,</i> so when the museum calls they answer.<br /><br />The celebration began with a talk by Jarrett Krosoczka, creator of the bestselling <i>Jedi Academy</i> and <i>Lunch Lady</i> series. Honestly, I missed that part because I was setting up for immediately after, when folks got to meet more than a dozen cartoonists, including me, in the museum's Great Hall. A lot of these photos were shot by my daughters Laura and Robin, who are much better tablers and salespeople than I am.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GIv5wTKooZc/WZHqzDitpZI/AAAAAAAAHMI/vQamMmRqeC4LHztsn7yVzAqPnS_ftW3xACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2699%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GIv5wTKooZc/WZHqzDitpZI/AAAAAAAAHMI/vQamMmRqeC4LHztsn7yVzAqPnS_ftW3xACLcBGAs/s640/IMG_2699%2Brev.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An overview of the Schulz Museum's Great Hall packed with cartoonists. I'm at center right in a black t-shirt with silver (sigh) hair.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wTquf3x99yc/WZHq74PoIWI/AAAAAAAAHMM/GX_E8lfIFqsK-1-vCjVZj2seSrM_m5I6gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2707%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="1600" height="341" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wTquf3x99yc/WZHq74PoIWI/AAAAAAAAHMM/GX_E8lfIFqsK-1-vCjVZj2seSrM_m5I6gCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2707%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I loved that woman's dress and hair ribbon with the Charlie Brown stripes. Hard to see here, but her skirt was all Peanuts characters, too.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kAQw9i7u7nQ/WZHq8ToGINI/AAAAAAAAHMQ/GchakxF4PGYFxbySzIletDQE6W5C1TuUwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2709%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1378" data-original-width="1600" height="548" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kAQw9i7u7nQ/WZHq8ToGINI/AAAAAAAAHMQ/GchakxF4PGYFxbySzIletDQE6W5C1TuUwCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_2709%2Brev.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of great people in this shot. In the foreground is Rosie McDaniel, talking to author and <a href="https://www.cartoonart.org/">Cartoon Art Museum</a> curator Andrew Farago. Rosie is a very special lady whose important role in local comics is hard to describe: her late husband Mark Cohen was a comics collector and agent, Rosie has published a couple of books about comics, and she's on the board of the Schulz Museum. But mostly she's just Rosie, who knows and is loved by almost everybody. In the red shirt/black cap is <a href="https://tombelandart.tumblr.com/">Tom Beland,</a> from whom I later bought a drawing. The woman sitting next to Tom is bestselling author <a href="https://svetlania.com/">Svetlana Chmakova,</a> and beside her, just visible under Rosie's nose, is my pal <a href="http://kidbeowulf.com/">Alexis Fajardo</a>. In the background behind Tom Beland is "Prince Valiant" artist <a href="http://www.thomasyeates.com/">Tom Yeates,</a> whom I'd never met but spent quite a lot of time talking with because I was sitting next to him, where my daughter Robin (purple dress) is filling my seat. Tom Yeates brought some original Valiant pages and I was impressed by how clean his artwork is--very little penciling or corrections. Very confident. To Robin's right is <a href="http://atomicbearpress.com/">"Atomic Bear Press"</a> creator Brian Kolm.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Olh_4oWpnbY/WZIQ5YcUR1I/AAAAAAAAHMg/oCvwhWENvZYjVm7utaheaKACgErQ_eLrgCLcBGAs/s1600/Beland%2BHulk%2BIM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1192" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Olh_4oWpnbY/WZIQ5YcUR1I/AAAAAAAAHMg/oCvwhWENvZYjVm7utaheaKACgErQ_eLrgCLcBGAs/s400/Beland%2BHulk%2BIM.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I added this charming drawing by Tom Beland to my small collection of original comics art. I think Iron Man is sad because the Hulk smashed his Lego town. I admire how elegantly Tom conveys form and line. It's hard to make it look that easy.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />From my perspective, I enjoy three benefits of doing events like this: I get to hang out with my cartoonist friends. I get to meet cartoonists I don't know. And I get to talk to nice people, especially kids, who really like comics and cartooning. Also, I get to sell a few books, though that's really not my main motivation. Let's call that another half a benefit. Three and a half.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o7-phKeqmqQ/WZISz-4pYbI/AAAAAAAAHMw/VVFyHaa5QOU_LVCsoJ14YI7C9gX_7XyegCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2681%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1489" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o7-phKeqmqQ/WZISz-4pYbI/AAAAAAAAHMw/VVFyHaa5QOU_LVCsoJ14YI7C9gX_7XyegCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2681%2Brev.jpg" width="371" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Museum hadn't announced that bestselling graphic novelist and my comics buddy&nbsp;<a href="http://goraina.com/">Raina Telgemeier</a> would be appearing, so it was a surprise to most of us if not to her. She signed books for several dozen people whose days were made when they found her there. On my other side is cartoonist <a href="http://www.andyrunton.com/owly/">Andy Runton</a>, whom I'd only met very briefly when he won an Eisner Award in 2006 for his series <i>Owly.</i> I really enjoyed talking with both of them.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ff3HGU2wMXU/WZISyegwYkI/AAAAAAAAHMs/a6F6ADNEHm0uyafJvsYai1FDEI7hnAPrgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ff3HGU2wMXU/WZISyegwYkI/AAAAAAAAHMs/a6F6ADNEHm0uyafJvsYai1FDEI7hnAPrgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2710.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My friend <a href="http://www.deniscomix.com/">Denis St. John</a> from the Schulz Studio peddled his own work, promoted with his dazzling smile. Behind Denis in the hat is <i>Astro City</i> artist <a href="http://www.brentandersonart.com/">Brent Anderson</a>. It's always nice to catch up with Brent and his wife Shirley, whom I usually run into at a local Farmers' Market because we live about six miles from each other.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The event's guest of honor was <a href="http://www.boneville.com/">Jeff Smith,</a> creator of the hugely popular <i>Bone</i> series, now available in more than 30 languages worldwide. Jeff did an interview-style panel with the Schulz Studio's <a href="https://paigebraddockcomics.wordpress.com/">Paige Braddock</a> and <a href="http://kidbeowulf.com/">Lex Fajardo</a> that covered pretty much all of his origin and career. Lex and Paige approached the job from different angles and managed to elicit answers Jeff probably hasn't given a hundred times before. It was a good panel, topped by Jeff being given the Cartoon Art Museum's "Sparky Award," named after Schulz for services to comics above and beyond the call of duty. Jeff seemed genuinely surprised and moved. It was a great moment.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Cu9YxWwNRY/WZIYdBtpZRI/AAAAAAAAHNI/LcdV3lZPEMMxnSsMDWqdiQXjwMhkkajcgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2714%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1600" height="576" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Cu9YxWwNRY/WZIYdBtpZRI/AAAAAAAAHNI/LcdV3lZPEMMxnSsMDWqdiQXjwMhkkajcgCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_2714%2Brev.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lex, Jeff and Paige talking in the museum's little auditorium.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bWgy5kgRttE/WZIYc39v_VI/AAAAAAAAHNE/pEkWrTqZEEQ38bTR6harxYpVJYCJ1ldMACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bWgy5kgRttE/WZIYc39v_VI/AAAAAAAAHNE/pEkWrTqZEEQ38bTR6harxYpVJYCJ1ldMACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2721.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After Jeff's talk, he signed books in the Great Hall, which was cleared of all the cartoonists' tables during his panel. That took him more than an hour.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />After the official event, all the participants were invited to walk across the baseball diamond and past the pumpkin patch to Mr. Schulz's studio, which is still the nerve center of <i>Peanuts</i> creative work and product licensing, for a pizza dinner.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QKINASLQ2as/WZIaYCmTxzI/AAAAAAAAHNU/CvxsNEEfsm073BDHck42gWuUAleetrJsACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QKINASLQ2as/WZIaYCmTxzI/AAAAAAAAHNU/CvxsNEEfsm073BDHck42gWuUAleetrJsACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2725.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's where I had a chance to talk with Nathan Hale, who does young-adult historical graphic novels for my publisher Abrams. We compared notes. The irony of a guy actually named "Nathan Hale" writing about Revolutionary-era America did not go unremarked, though I'm sure he's bone-tired of it.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--gnbsaZCPt4/WZIaYCNZFFI/AAAAAAAAHNY/UTcJ5oQ0u1MHai4-2216qCsMT_uMm25NQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--gnbsaZCPt4/WZIaYCNZFFI/AAAAAAAAHNY/UTcJ5oQ0u1MHai4-2216qCsMT_uMm25NQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2734.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It took a lot of guts to ask Jeff Smith to pose for a selfie. He had many people vying for his attention, but we managed to talk about our mutual artistic hero, cartoonist Walt Kelly, and what it's like to scrap a project and start over from scratch after you've already completed 100 pages of it, which we've both done.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />In the corner of the studio where Mr. Schulz used to work, his widow Jeannie set up his drawing table and chair from home (his original studio furniture is now exhibited in the museum). All studio tours for cartoonists end in this corner. Timidly, in hushed tones, they ask if they can sit in the chair. Yes they can. I've visited the studio a few times, and a couple of years ago even posted some pictures of me sitting in the chair, but I hope I never get so cool that I don't feel a little jolt of electricity when I get to do it again.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DU1i6jp6rpA/WZIagas_A9I/AAAAAAAAHNc/bUj3u2Gr-J03zHXuHmb5vvm3Yb1LV4aWgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2731%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DU1i6jp6rpA/WZIagas_A9I/AAAAAAAAHNc/bUj3u2Gr-J03zHXuHmb5vvm3Yb1LV4aWgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2731%2Brev.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />I asked one of my friends who works at the studio whether that feeling ever wears off. They said they feel it fresh every time someone who's never been there before enters the room and their eyes go wide. In my friend's experience, only cartoonists really get it: sitting at that board is like walking into Camelot and grasping Excalibur.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JIeSRVCcmKM/WZIaojnD_GI/AAAAAAAAHNg/Xt5xgkOGsgE9RhdtQz0z1Zyva0gBGp06gCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_2729%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="1600" height="323" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JIeSRVCcmKM/WZIaojnD_GI/AAAAAAAAHNg/Xt5xgkOGsgE9RhdtQz0z1Zyva0gBGp06gCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_2729%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you angle the light just right, you can see Mr. Schulz's lines and letters impressed into the soft wood of his drawing board. In fact, I think that reads "Schulz."</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8oF6iRCPNDU/WZIbDYhM_KI/AAAAAAAAHNk/2r86LWP9G2krLY4sKHUwIR96nbNoi8MMwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2737%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8oF6iRCPNDU/WZIbDYhM_KI/AAAAAAAAHNk/2r86LWP9G2krLY4sKHUwIR96nbNoi8MMwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2737%2Brev.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In addition to a variety of freshly fired pizzas and salads, the museum generously provided beverages, including bottles of "Museum Merlot" blended by Jeannie Schulz herself, according to the label on the back. I helped empty one and seized my opportunity, taking home what I'm pretty sure is the only wine bottle in the universe signed by (top to bottom) Raina Telgemeier, Andy Runton, Jeff Smith, Brent Anderson, Paige Braddock, Jeannie Schulz, Tom Beland and, sideways at lower right, Nathan Hale. I'm embarrassed to say how much I'll treasure this.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />There's a big part of me that'll always be 15 years old and amazed that not only do I know people who make comics professionally--some incredibly successfully--but that I get to do it, too. It's a lonely business and there aren't a lot of people you can talk shop with. Events like these are great fun and the public seems to get a lot out of them, too. Thanks to the Schulz Museum for letting me come play with my friends.<br />.Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-6217628479309233672017-07-28T13:19:00.001-07:002017-07-28T13:42:17.314-07:00Robotic Ruminations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nHHgZJRY0o4/WXub-SoTZ_I/AAAAAAAAHLk/8vY5ANYCYEcoHqO7vfTd2IrZTV_wlMb-wCLcBGAs/s1600/LMM%2BGears.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="787" data-original-width="1104" height="283" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nHHgZJRY0o4/WXub-SoTZ_I/AAAAAAAAHLk/8vY5ANYCYEcoHqO7vfTd2IrZTV_wlMb-wCLcBGAs/s400/LMM%2BGears.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I had a comment/reply on my "Last Mechanical Monster" webcomic, currently running on <a href="http://www.gocomics.com/the-last-mechanical-monster">GoComics.com</a>, I thought was interesting enough to share. (Background info: my story is a sequel to a 75-year-old Superman cartoon.) A reader questioned a drawing in which I showed my Robot full of gears, saying gears'd be too heavy and slow. My reply is a good example of how I approach a story:<br /><br />"(That's) something I actually spent quite a lot of time mulling over before I even began 'The Last Mechanical Monster': How does the Robot work? I thought hard and seriously about it for some time, drew a lot of diagrams, and decided it simply can’t, especially with a mostly hollow chest cavity (as shown in the Fleischer cartoon). There’s no way to attach the arms, no place to put a motor for its neck-propeller, no room for an engine or batteries, etc.<br /><br />"Basically I had to decide if I was telling a science fiction story or a fantasy story (I think it’s fair to say Superman himself could go either way), and the total impossibility of the Robot convinced me I was writing fantasy. If this were science fiction, I wouldn’t have filled his chest with gears; since it’s fantasy, and I thought gears looked cool and fit with some themes I develop later in the story, I went for it.<br /><br />"Think of the gears less as a way to move a robot and more as a metaphor to reveal a character."Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-70510096976782379612017-06-30T11:46:00.002-07:002017-07-02T17:00:57.709-07:00Taking Turns by MK Czerwiec<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nsz_uBkqMeg/WVZ8J_pB2aI/AAAAAAAAHKM/0Hx8FQSFjaME7_jFEHCZKSq2619xXfH9ACLcBGAs/s1600/MK%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="1238" height="350" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nsz_uBkqMeg/WVZ8J_pB2aI/AAAAAAAAHKM/0Hx8FQSFjaME7_jFEHCZKSq2619xXfH9ACLcBGAs/s400/MK%2B1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I like it when friends write good, interesting, even important books. It removes any awkwardness from your next meeting when they ask you what you thought and you can honestly say it was great.<br /><br /><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Turns-Stories-Graphic-Medicine/dp/0271078189" target="_blank">Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371</a></i>&nbsp;is by my friend MK Czerwiec, who as <a href="http://comicnurse.com/" target="_blank">"Comic Nurse"</a> is a ringleader of the <a href="http://www.graphicmedicine.org/" target="_blank">Graphic Medicine</a> community. It's the story of her experience as a nurse on a pioneering hospital unit through the 1990s, from the early days of a mysterious deadly disease to the day AIDS treatment became so effective that Unit 371 closed and MK was the last one left to turn off the lights.<br /><br />Done as a graphic novel, <i>Taking Turns</i> is part memoir, part oral history, and mostly journalism. It's deeply personal. MK writes about her struggles as a young nurse learning the job and finding her place, the panic of an accidental needle-stick, and the challenge of maintaining professional distance--or even knowing if she <i>should</i> maintain professional distance. Doctors, nurses and volunteers broke some rules getting close to patients who were mostly going to die, and while none of them seem to regret it, it took its toll.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V_StNsTS2vs/WVZ_-M2OyxI/AAAAAAAAHKY/FL8WOibsRggzmRvUm3-XymdvWiBuZg5lgCLcBGAs/s1600/MK%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="881" data-original-width="1071" height="526" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V_StNsTS2vs/WVZ_-M2OyxI/AAAAAAAAHKY/FL8WOibsRggzmRvUm3-XymdvWiBuZg5lgCLcBGAs/s640/MK%2B3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--GFG3vMhDTg/WVZ_-G7UMDI/AAAAAAAAHKc/RZupRX4_M7sDnhjelsNfvzEPVOffKfRIQCLcBGAs/s1600/MK%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="881" data-original-width="1071" height="526" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--GFG3vMhDTg/WVZ_-G7UMDI/AAAAAAAAHKc/RZupRX4_M7sDnhjelsNfvzEPVOffKfRIQCLcBGAs/s640/MK%2B4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A two-page sequence with MK (in the pink shirt) and Tim, a patient and artist whom MK got to know away from Unit 371. Tim's experience is a major arc through the book, and must represent the fate of dozens of patients MK cared for. The first panel also touches on the motif of stars, to which MK returns throughout the book. Pay no mind to the dark bands on these pages. I scanned them myself and didn't want to break the book's spine to lay it flat on the scanner, so they curved a bit.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I know from talking to MK while she worked on her book that&nbsp;<i>Taking Turns</i>&nbsp;is primarily intended as an oral history of Unit 371 and the AIDS crisis, captured while memories are still fresh but with the perspective of time. MK needed to record these stories before they faded away. At that, she succeeds tremendously.<br /><br />MK credits fellow Chicagoan Studs Turkel as one of her influences, and I see that. What strikes me as unusual and ambitious, though, is that MK isn't writing about individual people or even an entire generation, as Turkel might have. Although the story is set in a particular time and place, they aren't her true subjects. There's not much that specifically pins her story to the 1990s, and little that requires it to be in <i>this</i> hospital in <i>this</i> city rather than Miami or Baltimore or San Francisco. Her story, and the stories of all the people she interviewed for <i>Taking Turns, </i>focus on <i>what it felt like to do this job.</i>&nbsp;They were eyewitnesses to history. In that respect, I see <i>Taking Turns</i>&nbsp;foremost as first-person journalism.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--sTV5KloVqY/WVaEKzF-29I/AAAAAAAAHKo/GiZNIY9W9-IEz0vmL570XETfIrrklAcgwCLcBGAs/s1600/MK%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="883" data-original-width="1090" height="517" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--sTV5KloVqY/WVaEKzF-29I/AAAAAAAAHKo/GiZNIY9W9-IEz0vmL570XETfIrrklAcgwCLcBGAs/s640/MK%2B2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A watercolor by MK illustrating how HIV destroys the immune system.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6jGW1WGaimo/WVaGP3nMTfI/AAAAAAAAHK4/38pb_ACLECkzGDy8YZsJ-5Lq7InTRX_LwCEwYBhgL/s1600/MK%2B5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="1050" height="554" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6jGW1WGaimo/WVaGP3nMTfI/AAAAAAAAHK4/38pb_ACLECkzGDy8YZsJ-5Lq7InTRX_LwCEwYBhgL/s640/MK%2B5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parts of MK's interviews with the two physicians who started Unit 371. Text-heavy pages like this are interspersed throughout the book, separated by other multi-panel pages that often have little or no text. MK's not afraid of white space and silence. <i>Taking Turns</i> is dense in parts but doesn't feel heavy as a whole. Again, ignore the dark stripe on the left caused by my scan.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Let's talk about the art. The excerpts above are representative; that's how it looks. For some comics readers, MK's style would be a barrier. I like it. Her drawings provide all the information needed and tell her story clearly. I know that she put great thought into her color palette and the deliberate decision to use flat tones rather than all the gradients and flashy flair that are only a Photoshop click away. It's a "just the facts" approach to comics and, again, journalism that suits the topic. MK is a documentarian whose camera is locked on its tripod and pointed directly at its subject. I respect her choice. It works for me.<br /><br />A close childhood friend of mine died of AIDS in his early thirties. I don't claim any special insight from that, except that I was there and aware during the time MK wrote about. I think she gets it right, providing the unique perspective of someone working on the side we don't often hear about. Her observations have the types of detail and truth that only an eyewitness would know. I'd like to think and hope that my friend Jim had a nurse like MK looking after him. What I appreciate about <i>Taking Turns </i>is that MK helps me understand what it was like to care for hundreds of Jims during a time of tragedy and hope that shouldn't be forgotten.<br /><br /><i>Taking Turns</i> is published by Pennsylvania State University Press as part of a <a href="http://www.psupress.org/books/series/book_SeriesGM.html" target="_blank">Graphic Medicine series</a> that's on its way to becoming an impressive library. Other recent titles in the series include <i>My Degeneration </i>by Peter Dunlap-Shohl and <i>The Bad Doctor </i>by Ian Williams. Penn State is building a special and unique body of work that's worth supporting. Keep an eye on it.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pZDyYMT0nMg/WVaXab3eZ3I/AAAAAAAAHLM/SkumwCXkn449aeurJDGTYk0GtZRaekoOgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1893%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="883" data-original-width="1027" height="342" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pZDyYMT0nMg/WVaXab3eZ3I/AAAAAAAAHLM/SkumwCXkn449aeurJDGTYk0GtZRaekoOgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1893%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A truly terrible selfie I took with MK in Seattle two weeks ago. Apologies.</td></tr></tbody></table>Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-70083583563887957592017-06-19T15:13:00.003-07:002017-06-22T19:14:18.545-07:00Graphic Medicine: Seattle<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SQ9E_M9ie4o/WUgJa1rjBRI/AAAAAAAAHD8/NnMGKr4pnvYg8aRH7_78JfnJY0ZtNgA_ACLcBGAs/s1600/Seattle%2BStarbucks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1207" data-original-width="1600" height="481" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SQ9E_M9ie4o/WUgJa1rjBRI/AAAAAAAAHD8/NnMGKr4pnvYg8aRH7_78JfnJY0ZtNgA_ACLcBGAs/s640/Seattle%2BStarbucks.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I did not have to go out of my way to find Starbucks in Seattle. However, I understand that the one at top left is the original coffee shop that built an empire, which would explain the constant scrum of pilgrims snaking out the door and down the block.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />There've been eight international Graphic Medicine Conferences since 2010. I've been to six of them. We've developed some traditions, one of which is that I always write a long and windy blog post when I get home. Another tradition, as explained by graphic medicine (GM) guru Ian Williams, is that if I don't proclaim every conference "the best one ever," they'll know they've failed.<br /><br />Luckily, this was the best one ever.<br /><br />Comics and medicine seems like an odd combination, but it works. Patients make comics about being patients, doctors and nurses make comics about being doctors and nurses. Comics teach kids how to use inhalers, encourage Australian aborigines to use public health clinics, and get informed consent from hospitalized children. In addition to tons of graphic memoirs that touch on medical topics (mine, <i>Epileptic, Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person, Pedro &amp; Me, Special Exits, Hyperbole and a Half, Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, Tangles, Marbles, Psychiatric Tales</i> and many many more), people find myriad fascinating ways to work comics into healthcare themes or practice.<br /><br />Professors, students, doctors, nurses, writers, artists, cartoonists and others get together at these conferences to meet and compare notes. People come from all over North America, Europe, Australia, Japan and more. It's a big tent.<br /><br />In every previous conference, I've done some sort of talk or workshop. It took me this long to figure out I could just <i>go</i> to the thing without doing all that work. I recommend it!<br /><br />Some people who'll show up in the photos below:<br /><ul><li>The aforementioned Ian Williams, one of two proprietors of the <a href="http://www.graphicmedicine.org/" target="_blank">GM website</a>, coiner of the term "graphic medicine," a British M.D., author of <i>The Bad Doctor</i> graphic novel, co-author of <i>The Graphic Medicine Manifesto, </i>and recent first-time father.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8szhqIEh760/WUgRHrUWYwI/AAAAAAAAHEM/vZWOdGJk77Mp4KWoE0BUBPOpq_vcVdmKQCLcBGAs/s1600/Graphic%2BMedicine%2BManifesto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1296" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8szhqIEh760/WUgRHrUWYwI/AAAAAAAAHEM/vZWOdGJk77Mp4KWoE0BUBPOpq_vcVdmKQCLcBGAs/s200/Graphic%2BMedicine%2BManifesto.jpg" width="161" /></a></div></li><li>"Comic Nurse" MK Czerwiec, the other proprietor of the website, a Chicago nurse and teacher, another co-author of <i>The Graphic Medicine Manifesto,</i> and author of the new graphic novel <i>Taking Turns</i> about her experience on an early AIDS ward.</li><li>Mita Mahato, an associate professor of English and cartoonist who does beautiful cut-paper art, has a book of poetry coming out in the fall, and was the on-the-ground lead for the Seattle conference.</li><li>Susan Squier, professor of English and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Penn State University, yet another co-author of&nbsp;<i>The Graphic Medicine Manifesto,</i>&nbsp;and part of the organizing committee.</li><li>Michael Green, an M.D. and bioethicist at Penn State University, yet <i>another </i>co-author of&nbsp;<i>The Graphic Medicine Manifesto,&nbsp;</i>and part of the organizing committee.</li><li>Juliet McMullin, a cultural and medical anthropologist at UC Riverside, who led the organizing for 2015's conference in Riverside, Calif.</li></ul>I hope I got all that right. I'll introduce others as they come up. Assume every name I mention is preceded by the words "my friend." Pictures (most of which were taken on an iPhone in poor lighting) to prove it happened:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bi9AQ1OCxpY/WUgSss7pMvI/AAAAAAAAHEg/I-xzDAHly4oR81Bf1mmWzQfy-jWyaXAYwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bi9AQ1OCxpY/WUgSss7pMvI/AAAAAAAAHEg/I-xzDAHly4oR81Bf1mmWzQfy-jWyaXAYwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1730.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The conference was held at the main Seattle Public Library, a modern steel and glass building with a strange fourth floor, where some of our sessions were held. The whole level was painted red, with intense spotlighting and twisting, rounded walls. It felt like being inside a living heart and was a little unnerving.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fgeo8PujtZk/WUgTUs57xdI/AAAAAAAAHE0/sBPkPGObZwAJOZfdOSgoay7vmD-HjPFbgCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_1831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fgeo8PujtZk/WUgTUs57xdI/AAAAAAAAHE0/sBPkPGObZwAJOZfdOSgoay7vmD-HjPFbgCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_1831.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fourth floor. Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub, redrum.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g_ZOlQ7LXag/WUgSrm672WI/AAAAAAAAHEY/fTbruYs_2dYJk6jAuyh1c7tstzDMby3SQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g_ZOlQ7LXag/WUgSrm672WI/AAAAAAAAHEY/fTbruYs_2dYJk6jAuyh1c7tstzDMby3SQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1768.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ian Williams and MK Czerwiec, photobombed by Mita Mahato. I love this picture.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hXT26QuxKfo/WUgSt-2ZMpI/AAAAAAAAHEk/gagqlxFbcFAnyC-9MiXFa3zGtNQF3TsGgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hXT26QuxKfo/WUgSt-2ZMpI/AAAAAAAAHEk/gagqlxFbcFAnyC-9MiXFa3zGtNQF3TsGgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1770.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smart and talented Shelley Wall and Dana Walrath have been important parts of these conferences. Shelley organized the Toronto conference in 2012 and helped organize this one; Dana authored a book titled <i>Aliceheimer's </i>and presented on her latest project in Seattle.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bJcGSCgD1Bk/WUgVdG_wSNI/AAAAAAAAHFE/8s7lxrpx3Hgt-O0tEvheWK0d7GgGNGUbQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1783%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1251" data-original-width="1600" height="312" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bJcGSCgD1Bk/WUgVdG_wSNI/AAAAAAAAHFE/8s7lxrpx3Hgt-O0tEvheWK0d7GgGNGUbQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1783%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tangles </i>cartoonist Sarah Leavitt, MK, and <i>Marbles</i> cartoonist Ellen Forney pretend to peruse an anthology of comics produced for the conference because they saw my camera and wanted to look impressive.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0yBj90niux0/WUgVcxAamaI/AAAAAAAAHFA/NTiVJbTETCoDKwZ2X8vmKcdcYOZqzMDLACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1785%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1291" data-original-width="1600" height="322" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0yBj90niux0/WUgVcxAamaI/AAAAAAAAHFA/NTiVJbTETCoDKwZ2X8vmKcdcYOZqzMDLACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1785%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"So four doctors and a lawyer walk into a bar . . ." In front, cartoonist-physicians Ian Williams, cartoonist-physician Theresa Maatman, and non-cartoonist physician Michael Green. Behind, professor and attorney Dan Bustillos and Australian psychiatrist-cartoonist Neil Phillips.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />A few interesting themes spontaneously emerged over the weekend. One concerned the growth and spread of the GM concept. I heard a lot about Graphic Anthropology--not sure what it is or who does it, though I suspect Juliet McMullin is a ringleader. Professor-lawyer Dan Bustillos, whose classes I occasionally crash via Skype, introduced me to Graphic Justice, which is what happens when comics meet law. There were a lot of young first-timers at this conference, and, it seemed to me, a real explosion of recent books that fit under the GM umbrella. When I did <i>Mom's Cancer</i> there were maybe one or two dozen in the canon; now it seems like there are hundreds.<br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h0xVnFItP5U/WUgobQTg_4I/AAAAAAAAHFU/ENt49n3S3xcKaXvjqBG26-UZ-9Pv75HmwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h0xVnFItP5U/WUgobQTg_4I/AAAAAAAAHFU/ENt49n3S3xcKaXvjqBG26-UZ-9Pv75HmwCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_1780.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An overview of the big, main auditorium where the keynote speeches and some of the panels took place. Other panels were in rooms on the red fourth floor (shudder) upstairs.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EqSquJ7c-xk/WUgqv8qqRUI/AAAAAAAAHFg/jbGoZYKf14oItIq1fRiS4_WCn9Q10ozCgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1814%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EqSquJ7c-xk/WUgqv8qqRUI/AAAAAAAAHFg/jbGoZYKf14oItIq1fRiS4_WCn9Q10ozCgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1814%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Seattle Public Library pulled several GM comics from their shelves for display and browsing, and provided reading lists for dozens more. The white sheets of paper on the wall were taped up for people to draw on.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gp3JLAjrrGw/WUgq2WbrdKI/AAAAAAAAHFk/iVcvOtVcGycOAc-XUJ1yu07UF67L8DnGwCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_1827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gp3JLAjrrGw/WUgq2WbrdKI/AAAAAAAAHFk/iVcvOtVcGycOAc-XUJ1yu07UF67L8DnGwCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_1827.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Conference co-planner Meredith Li-Vollmer, Eisner-winning cartoonist David Lasky, and Nikki Eller talk about public health comics they've made for King County (Wash.) that have been translated into two dozen languages. Behind them is original art for a silent auction.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n-0DrPW7gM0/WUgrGaCaMqI/AAAAAAAAHFs/bFQK5iaQ5Y81Gs4E7si-4Z3gAbff65IVwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1801%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n-0DrPW7gM0/WUgrGaCaMqI/AAAAAAAAHFs/bFQK5iaQ5Y81Gs4E7si-4Z3gAbff65IVwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1801%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juliet McMullin on "Accessing Land-Based Health with Indigenous Graphic Narratives."</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_eQZQvltMCA/WUgrGNeDHEI/AAAAAAAAHFo/mEpSHhwI0l82jLBTZiwKwWzAmGdQxx8bgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1808%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1111" data-original-width="1600" height="277" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_eQZQvltMCA/WUgrGNeDHEI/AAAAAAAAHFo/mEpSHhwI0l82jLBTZiwKwWzAmGdQxx8bgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1808%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtney Donovan of San Francisco State University on "Graphic Narratives and Nomadic Subjectivities."</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W-swjBDess8/WUgu3Sam-QI/AAAAAAAAHF4/qtATozvQ-TUHQkDbPUvPXEq45ZkvRalcQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1803%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W-swjBDess8/WUgu3Sam-QI/AAAAAAAAHF4/qtATozvQ-TUHQkDbPUvPXEq45ZkvRalcQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1803%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Susan Squier moderating a panel in one of the smaller rooms.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CoDk_fpL0ug/WUgzhG1d9cI/AAAAAAAAHGI/NCFJnPl_zIg-EGz5uBrundLsa7KSaUqxACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1771%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CoDk_fpL0ug/WUgzhG1d9cI/AAAAAAAAHGI/NCFJnPl_zIg-EGz5uBrundLsa7KSaUqxACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1771%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juliet McMullin, Amerisa Waters (who's working toward her PhD in Medical Humanities), and Neil Phillips.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-26ThEDToNBE/WUhado4nkMI/AAAAAAAAHJg/ar4-9uPlgLst3v5LP2q5eQ_aUPJ2EvxYACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-26ThEDToNBE/WUhado4nkMI/AAAAAAAAHJg/ar4-9uPlgLst3v5LP2q5eQ_aUPJ2EvxYACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1790.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Journalist-comedian-cartoonist Aaron Freeman and Mita Mahato.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FQ7GTy7r7f8/WUhbWUliAZI/AAAAAAAAHJs/GIFzyiKA5oYBzYUGSZ4lLrFDAOoT_FfqwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1851%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1406" data-original-width="1600" height="351" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FQ7GTy7r7f8/WUhbWUliAZI/AAAAAAAAHJs/GIFzyiKA5oYBzYUGSZ4lLrFDAOoT_FfqwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1851%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ian Williams illustrated a wry and dry progress report on his next book with a drawing of his family.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sDhyh3L2jS0/WUhbWbjZs3I/AAAAAAAAHJo/Z3OWxkoRCxQVP_PKOCcRdB73mJ_paa_VgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1854%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1409" data-original-width="1600" height="351" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sDhyh3L2jS0/WUhbWbjZs3I/AAAAAAAAHJo/Z3OWxkoRCxQVP_PKOCcRdB73mJ_paa_VgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1854%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael Green has medical students make comics about the hardships of medical school. The results are enlightening.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GD-3sPJ33HA/WUlB0kk8bKI/AAAAAAAAHJ8/Ll8JuM-OSuMvgBYF5dxmxG6TGtStUhJ5ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1868%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1005" data-original-width="1600" height="251" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GD-3sPJ33HA/WUlB0kk8bKI/AAAAAAAAHJ8/Ll8JuM-OSuMvgBYF5dxmxG6TGtStUhJ5ACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1868%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dan Bustillos is a strong, dynamic speaker. I'll bet he's a good teacher. That's Michael Green raising his hand.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Some people told me how much they appreciated <i>Mom's Cancer,</i> and many cited it in their talks or said they teach it in their classes, which is a deeply gratifying legacy. One story I want to tell at the risk of immodesty: a young PhD gave a talk on "Webcomics Building Communities," focusing on Allie Brosh's <i>Hyperbole and a Half</i> but mentioning <i>Mom's Cancer</i> along the way. I thought she made some good insightful points, so during the panel Q&amp;A I stood up, said that I'd done <i>Mom's Cancer,</i> which started as a webcomic and went to print, and had some thoughts on the topic. We had a good exchange.<br /><br />In private afterward, she said she'd had no idea I was there and would have been terrified if she had. I confessed that the opportunity to have my Marshall McLuhan "Annie Hall" moment ("You know nothing of my work...How you ever got to teach a class in anything is totally amazing!") was nearly irresistible. We'll keep in touch.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9wWUc8BZgWE?ecver=1" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />The conference ended with a marketplace for people to sell their stuff. I'd brought a pretty big stack of cash to spend, but still ran out of money--and, more importantly, space in my carry-on luggage--before I hit all the tables. Sorry, I did my best.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_8pX_nuI9w0/WUg8n_TNpBI/AAAAAAAAHHQ/PNhAQT7QSOAC-NWcBtVES26edSB-h_YoACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_8pX_nuI9w0/WUg8n_TNpBI/AAAAAAAAHHQ/PNhAQT7QSOAC-NWcBtVES26edSB-h_YoACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1886.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Dunlap-Shohl (<i>My Degeneration</i>), MK Czerwiec and Ian Williams selling well at the marketplace. All three are published by Penn State University Press, whose&nbsp;<a href="http://www.psupress.org/books/series/book_SeriesGM.html" target="_blank">Graphic Medicine Series</a>&nbsp;is growing into an impressive and important library.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HggYE7AZ4Jo/WUg8n8FCZkI/AAAAAAAAHHU/Lehh-3X5I4MnqkUamJlHUm9Zjw-DLiwAQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HggYE7AZ4Jo/WUg8n8FCZkI/AAAAAAAAHHU/Lehh-3X5I4MnqkUamJlHUm9Zjw-DLiwAQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1887.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kurt Shaffert (second from left) and James Sturm (right) from the Center for Cartoon Studies have committed to hosting the next GM Conference in White River Junction, Vermont. Fools. Mark your calendar for August 16-18, 2018.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ePfXPZOMklY/WUg8qfu8NaI/AAAAAAAAHHg/AW91MNIl4wQSOMIAqItwxmh9tpBMDTYjACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ePfXPZOMklY/WUg8qfu8NaI/AAAAAAAAHHg/AW91MNIl4wQSOMIAqItwxmh9tpBMDTYjACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1892.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My haul from the marketplace. I'm looking forward to reading it all.</td></tr></tbody></table><b><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="color: blue;">Mild Night Life</span></b><br />Both nights of the conference were capped with extracurriculars. After the first full day, many attendees made the long trek south to the Fantgraphics Bookstore and Gallery, which for fans of sophisticated comics literature is a bit like a pilgrimage to Mecca. It's a small space packed with terrific stuff. After the second day, we adjourned to the Raygun Lounge, another funky space providing beverages, gaming tables, and vintage pinball machines.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IuceNcLC1dc/WUg2LAI5lTI/AAAAAAAAHGU/MyVDzjxP3u0qkOMIp14gXPGiKDzxAPMSQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IuceNcLC1dc/WUg2LAI5lTI/AAAAAAAAHGU/MyVDzjxP3u0qkOMIp14gXPGiKDzxAPMSQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1843.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aljnJrebTPs/WUg2aapsHVI/AAAAAAAAHGc/fEJckT_VkVY4sP0-Fxp-uVwhAsPNbxTjACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1837.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aljnJrebTPs/WUg2aapsHVI/AAAAAAAAHGc/fEJckT_VkVY4sP0-Fxp-uVwhAsPNbxTjACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1837.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One little wing of the Fantagraphics store.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZuBC5Nor1Xs/WUg2Zjfc1aI/AAAAAAAAHGY/XihaH5UBlToBzsOz5TBAI5iMP3sRJtdyQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZuBC5Nor1Xs/WUg2Zjfc1aI/AAAAAAAAHGY/XihaH5UBlToBzsOz5TBAI5iMP3sRJtdyQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1840.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As I wrote on Facebook, what I really love about these GM conferences is the improbable confluence of events that would put cartoonists Ellen Forney, David Lasky and me talking shop in a corner of the Fantagraphics bookstore. Before that moment, I wouldn't have bet those odds.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZX8iT0xqeDE/WUg33Ev53jI/AAAAAAAAHGo/Y1mWBlVvyMc0lkcEECOOOsfn6OFNKZkkQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZX8iT0xqeDE/WUg33Ev53jI/AAAAAAAAHGo/Y1mWBlVvyMc0lkcEECOOOsfn6OFNKZkkQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1893.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another selfie, this one the next day with MK at the Raygun Lounge.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eJ6Py_m7zEU/WUg36_9Yq3I/AAAAAAAAHGw/W-Z6eMQJbYUMMjKCcYlsX7GQSnIe12HHwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1894%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eJ6Py_m7zEU/WUg36_9Yq3I/AAAAAAAAHGw/W-Z6eMQJbYUMMjKCcYlsX7GQSnIe12HHwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1894%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can tell these people are artists because they all have their heads down drawing instead of drinking, talking, brawling, or dancing on the table.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UzEOTAsu73s/WUg36u7IEAI/AAAAAAAAHGs/BX_upkFzpBky_0uFjDMzFRD5NgYLRubEACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1895%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UzEOTAsu73s/WUg36u7IEAI/AAAAAAAAHGs/BX_upkFzpBky_0uFjDMzFRD5NgYLRubEACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1895%2Brev.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A second table at the Raygun covered with butcher paper for art, with Neil Phillips at the head and our wonderful final keynote speaker <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Kinnard" target="_blank">Rupert Kinnard</a> to Neil's left (your right). Do yourself a favor and click the link on Rupert's name; his life and work cover a lot of struggle and history. I'd been sitting in that empty space along the window and did that black scribble that I'll show you after I explain something . . .</td></tr></tbody></table><br />One interesting theme that emerged through the conference was "catharsis." More than one presenter talked about how making comics about illness and medical care isn't really cathartic at all: it's too hard, too slow, and doesn't accomplish the "expelling and healing" that catharsis implies. So some of us were sitting around near the end of the last day agreeing that that was a good point when Rupert Kinnard talked for an hour about comics as catharsis and introduced the humorous past-tense verb&nbsp;<i>"catharted."</i>&nbsp; Rupert confused and unconvinced me.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ko2VanQCSPY/WUg67YSLVAI/AAAAAAAAHHE/3NFrJrdiZf8vugUtzb0C6bee_YZjo5QKgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1902%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ko2VanQCSPY/WUg67YSLVAI/AAAAAAAAHHE/3NFrJrdiZf8vugUtzb0C6bee_YZjo5QKgCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_1902%2Brev.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So later at the Raygun I did a doodle of my Last Mechanical Monster and the Cosmic Kid, to which my friend Mita Mahato added the red word balloons "I Catharted" and "Um...I know." And then we just doodled together while we talked, adding a mountain landscape, UFOs, and a little outhouse on the Moon in a way I haven't since my kids and I drew on restaurant placemats when they were toddlers.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">I highly recommend it.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><span style="color: blue;">Seattle</span></b><br />Seattle is a good city for hosting an event like this. Its core is very walkable, public transit is convenient and not too hard to figure out, and its setting is beautiful. The vagaries of flight schedules made it best for me to arrive a day early and fly home a day late, immediately after a reading and signing for MK's book <i>Taking Turns</i> at a local bookstore.<br /><br />Of course I walked the waterfront and Pike Place Market. With time to kill and a passion for World's Fairs of the past, I also visited the site of the 1962 World's Fair, riding the monorail built for the event to its centerpiece, the Space Needle. Imagine my astonishment finding the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) right next door, then my giggling delight at finding it had a wing dedicated to "Star Trek."<br /><br />A. Star. Trek. Museum.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TDgltQMlxes/WUhAhQ4UgCI/AAAAAAAAHHw/_HXvSRSX5MsBeaajfHoCiRBqHtkqJaiIwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TDgltQMlxes/WUhAhQ4UgCI/AAAAAAAAHHw/_HXvSRSX5MsBeaajfHoCiRBqHtkqJaiIwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1580.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 1962 ALWEG monorail, built by the same folks who did Disneyland's. Retro cool transportation of the past future. Or the future past. Whichever.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I0evbFeE4qk/WUhAhK0bXQI/AAAAAAAAHHs/jbo8PKjnqew9HQcnp7uztNPYhwYhOxZHQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I0evbFeE4qk/WUhAhK0bXQI/AAAAAAAAHHs/jbo8PKjnqew9HQcnp7uztNPYhwYhOxZHQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1719.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An angle on the Space Needle shot through some floral metal sculptures (hard to tell from this angle, but the flowers are about the height of light posts).</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PdyF1eobVgU/WUhBUeFkTUI/AAAAAAAAHH4/QAqkC-W2bNEleK4q2r4HA3vGR5hHH2PRQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PdyF1eobVgU/WUhBUeFkTUI/AAAAAAAAHH4/QAqkC-W2bNEleK4q2r4HA3vGR5hHH2PRQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1598.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seattle from the tippy-top.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SLXRh3Yj5Ug/WUhC-1nxC5I/AAAAAAAAHIU/lupKxoCFl8cn4Inq98Xy7as9HYxtxqxZACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="720" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SLXRh3Yj5Ug/WUhC-1nxC5I/AAAAAAAAHIU/lupKxoCFl8cn4Inq98Xy7as9HYxtxqxZACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1617.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Space Needle does that thing where they have visitors stand in front of a green screen to be superimposed onto different backgrounds (it's free, which it isn't most places). Since I was alone and didn't care, I asked the photographer if I could do something odd. She was game. Later, when scrolling through possible backgrounds, I saw this one, guffawed, and knew I'd found my match. You take <i>one </i>wrong step . . .</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CM_0RwH6Vq8/WUhBc259ioI/AAAAAAAAHH8/Gi-L9yHVCdUFyDYXO9_Cs2MEpYtmWBrhQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CM_0RwH6Vq8/WUhBc259ioI/AAAAAAAAHH8/Gi-L9yHVCdUFyDYXO9_Cs2MEpYtmWBrhQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1714.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The monorail track ends in this Frank Gehry building that houses the MoPOP.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JsMzLSBgAsg/WUhCMbPXgdI/AAAAAAAAHIE/mRCmg4T3GRM6YajczFg-e4xzN-AFTUsFwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1697%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JsMzLSBgAsg/WUhCMbPXgdI/AAAAAAAAHIE/mRCmg4T3GRM6YajczFg-e4xzN-AFTUsFwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1697%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ohmygod. It's Captain Kirk's actual chair, and Sulu and Chekov's actual console. And Kirk's actual tunic. And Uhura's actual dress.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zj8YwSCwCT4/WUhCTHrg5uI/AAAAAAAAHII/xsPjDg7ZhmolF03V2arymjarL4GFAjtZwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zj8YwSCwCT4/WUhCTHrg5uI/AAAAAAAAHII/xsPjDg7ZhmolF03V2arymjarL4GFAjtZwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1649.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ohmygod ohmygod! And actual phasers and tricorders and communicators and hyposprays!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D2FTwFI9C3s/WUhCYf0VVTI/AAAAAAAAHIM/Ud-8wGz5psQsSZ2q9N9QFEuCVoXcDLHqQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1636.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D2FTwFI9C3s/WUhCYf0VVTI/AAAAAAAAHIM/Ud-8wGz5psQsSZ2q9N9QFEuCVoXcDLHqQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1636.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYG---</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D1Y6-uaacnQ/WUhFIEakhFI/AAAAAAAAHIs/sXIw_0MdWpYE-dc02kiIeCoMHR6Sd0RggCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1707%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D1Y6-uaacnQ/WUhFIEakhFI/AAAAAAAAHIs/sXIw_0MdWpYE-dc02kiIeCoMHR6Sd0RggCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1707%2Brev.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The MoPOP also has these guys . . .</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_MOc8mncdD8/WUhFIHWrorI/AAAAAAAAHIo/7-nedfYByIEsM4XATWDkEU25aut8BLQewCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1708%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_MOc8mncdD8/WUhFIHWrorI/AAAAAAAAHIo/7-nedfYByIEsM4XATWDkEU25aut8BLQewCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1708%2Brev.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">. . . and those guys . . .</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ql18guHHqVQ/WUhFmUWfGVI/AAAAAAAAHI0/SIWh9z2_gXwbjUL168DzloVB2rSweT6qACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1673%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ql18guHHqVQ/WUhFmUWfGVI/AAAAAAAAHI0/SIWh9z2_gXwbjUL168DzloVB2rSweT6qACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1673%2Brev.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plus a special exhibition on these guys . .&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kh4pzpKAsp8/WUhFmav_1WI/AAAAAAAAHIw/u99VyHWpPkYPGn0nhGwgelaP3dYzRG1JgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1677%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kh4pzpKAsp8/WUhFmav_1WI/AAAAAAAAHIw/u99VyHWpPkYPGn0nhGwgelaP3dYzRG1JgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1677%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">. . . and those guys . . .</td></tr></tbody></table><br />. . . and all the other pop culture, rock-and-roll, and show business artifacts that Microsoft money could buy. I really enjoyed MoPOP, all the more because I didn't know it was there and just stumbled onto it. What a discovery.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: blue;">Going Home</span></b><br />My flight home was one of the best I've had in years. The plane was only about a quarter full and took off due south at sunset, giving us wonderful views of the snowcapped Cascades. I took a few photos out the window, knowing that they never capture one-tenth the beauty you see by eye.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F74EJ8VX034/WUhH45U0BoI/AAAAAAAAHJA/6ZJHF9GMP-kzMpfCm97e5F0EIPQjDCqUwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1980%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F74EJ8VX034/WUhH45U0BoI/AAAAAAAAHJA/6ZJHF9GMP-kzMpfCm97e5F0EIPQjDCqUwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1980%2Brev.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mount St. Helens in the foreground, Mount Adams in the background. Notice the shadow of St. Helens stretching off to the upper right behind it. Neat!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VBQHgZ_A4bY/WUhH46tTQcI/AAAAAAAAHJE/mmnjLn544K4jhogVLMka6eC8I66EcsHAgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2012%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VBQHgZ_A4bY/WUhH46tTQcI/AAAAAAAAHJE/mmnjLn544K4jhogVLMka6eC8I66EcsHAgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_2012%2Brev.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crater Lake National Park, Oregon.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>What a wonderful trip. As I told several people during the conference, I always go home from a big comics convention, such as the San Diego Comic-Con, feeling tired and beaten. I always go home from a GM conference feeling energized and inspired. Today at lunch, Karen asked me why that was.<br /><br />I really think people at a GM conference, besides just being generally smarter (face it, they're mostly RNs, MDs, MAs, and PhDs), are more deeply interested in the potential of comics as a medium--and stretching the boundaries of that medium---than your typical comics fan. Some of them are trying to make comics do things they've never done before. I went away with ten new approaches to think about and five new ideas I'm just going to outright steal.<br /><br />The best conference yet. And not entirely because I found a "Star Trek" museum.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WpV8zL3OQec/WUhKGWd_UDI/AAAAAAAAHJQ/64vGtNG1E7U7dUk8IDy162UsNqDPNJhnACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1620%2Brev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1261" data-original-width="1600" height="252" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WpV8zL3OQec/WUhKGWd_UDI/AAAAAAAAHJQ/64vGtNG1E7U7dUk8IDy162UsNqDPNJhnACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_1620%2Brev.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out there. Thataway. Dork Factor 5.*<br /><br /><br />*Not THE actual chair.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div>Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-48083377695085861742017-06-12T10:06:00.001-07:002017-06-23T10:49:45.593-07:00Rheinstein Now & ThenFriends and long-time readers of this blog know I love 3D images, and have even dabbled in making them myself. I've also got a small collection of antique stereographs: pairs of photos printed on thick curved cardboard that are viewed through a stereoscope to show a 3D picture. They were early View-Masters. At the turn of the 20th Century, most well-appointed parlors were equipped with a viewer and a cabinet full of 3D cards to entertain guests, bringing the exotic wonders of the world to people who'd never see them otherwise.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6AY91QZeSBk/WT7CZLUpt7I/AAAAAAAAHDM/WKuAEBihujsAVMg3L5j6sfxJYTTTvZZEQCLcB/s1600/stereoscope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6AY91QZeSBk/WT7CZLUpt7I/AAAAAAAAHDM/WKuAEBihujsAVMg3L5j6sfxJYTTTvZZEQCLcB/s400/stereoscope.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I especially like stereographs of places I've been. It's fun (and a little spooky) to compare my modern experience of a place to that of someone a century ago. At an antiques fair yesterday, I found a card of Rheinstein Castle; since Karen and I just took a cruise up the Rhine River, I had to bring the card home and check whether we'd seen that castle ourselves.<br /><br />And we did!<br /><br />Here's the stereograph. The back of the card provides a little history of the castle, which <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinstein_Castle" target="_blank">Wikipedia expands upon</a>. The card doesn't have a copyright date, but most of them were made in the late 19th Century. The fad died out in the 1910s, probably related to the coming of silent films.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BowgqiVJKtY/WT7GYON2KQI/AAAAAAAAHDY/4ByyCb6PrqQiZDBtlzKM7Q7qxVUqIQWsQCLcB/s1600/Rheinstein%2BCard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1600" height="328" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BowgqiVJKtY/WT7GYON2KQI/AAAAAAAAHDY/4ByyCb6PrqQiZDBtlzKM7Q7qxVUqIQWsQCLcB/s640/Rheinstein%2BCard.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Here's a modern photo of Rheinstein Castle taken from nearly the same vantage point. Some features are different, others are the same. It's interesting that the perilous-looking steps with curved railing that lead to the right-most tower look like they haven't changed in a century.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-09RQP3NN8ek/WT7GgvhnZuI/AAAAAAAAHDc/g0YEhzLCH1ohdrLsOw4fvIJ1XL9V1KkKACLcB/s1600/Rheinstein%2Bwiki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="1600" height="488" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-09RQP3NN8ek/WT7GgvhnZuI/AAAAAAAAHDc/g0YEhzLCH1ohdrLsOw4fvIJ1XL9V1KkKACLcB/s640/Rheinstein%2Bwiki.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Our river boat chugged up the Rhine River in the distant background, which in fact is almost exactly where we were when I snapped this photo:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ffs2WZ4fGpI/WT7GwDJ34jI/AAAAAAAAHDg/ckxppzwp4LYdSkaN-Q80uavt4pWThS4agCLcB/s1600/Rheinstein%2BMy%2BPic%2B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ffs2WZ4fGpI/WT7GwDJ34jI/AAAAAAAAHDg/ckxppzwp4LYdSkaN-Q80uavt4pWThS4agCLcB/s400/Rheinstein%2BMy%2BPic%2B.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There, that hulking silhouette on the right bank.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />It's distant and dark, and unfortunately the only picture of this castle I got. Cropping and fiddling in Photoshop brings out a few more details that make it a definite match.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VtBSJ2r2feE/WT7H0ITDBHI/AAAAAAAAHDs/M_eZTvOjRO0TiOB3LmrkPYD4EkAyT0WrwCLcB/s1600/Rheinstein%2BMy%2BPic%2Bcrop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="858" data-original-width="858" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VtBSJ2r2feE/WT7H0ITDBHI/AAAAAAAAHDs/M_eZTvOjRO0TiOB3LmrkPYD4EkAyT0WrwCLcB/s400/Rheinstein%2BMy%2BPic%2Bcrop.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />A century after Rheinstein Castle was visited by those two women lounging on a neighboring battlement, I was there too. Travel's good for making these connections with history--not just the centuries of history represented by the castle, but the century of tourism connecting those women to me. C'mon, that's cool!<br /><br />Well, I think so.<br /><br /><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-17223052905200407762017-06-12T08:41:00.001-07:002017-06-12T08:41:30.625-07:00Adam West<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5M0cr5qJdbc/WT61eg2nr3I/AAAAAAAAHC8/932fSIeDCCoqSRaHdAg3W2PcdM0NC1btwCLcB/s1600/West%2BBatman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="615" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5M0cr5qJdbc/WT61eg2nr3I/AAAAAAAAHC8/932fSIeDCCoqSRaHdAg3W2PcdM0NC1btwCLcB/s400/West%2BBatman.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I like this behind-the-scenes photo because it's a happy reminder that West wasn't Batman, he was a working actor who played Batman for a couple of years and rode a Raleigh stingray around the studio lot between scenes. And got to hug Yvonne Craig.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I had half a mind to write up something about Adam West, until <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2017/06/11/532411148/adam-west-saved-batman-and-me" target="_blank">NPR's Glen Weldon did it for me</a>. It's worth a read.<br /><br />The Batman '66 series hit me at just the right time--as it did Weldon, whose age must be within a year or two of mine--to make a difference. I also ran around the neighborhood with a cape, looking for crime to fight. It's no exaggeration to say that West's Batman, along with the same era's Kirk and Spock, and the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts, were as important to the development of my interests, personality, and approach to life as people who actually raised me.<br /><br />West was an indispensable ingredient in my primordial soup.<br /><br />I'll always treasure West's performance for one thing: I took it deadly seriously when I was a child and only realized it was a comedy when I was a teen, when I loved it all over again. I've never seen anything work on two levels as wonderfully as that. (Maybe "Peanuts," which is funny when you're a kid and melancholy when you're an adult.) For a long time, comic book readers and fans dismissed West's Batman for mocking the medium, and we still suffer through every newspaper headline about comics beginning with a "Pow!" and "Bam!" But the show was so smart and charming that opinion eventually turned, and West ended his life as a celebrated pop culture icon.<br /><br />Well deserved, old chum.Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-35712124898783233552017-05-21T09:30:00.002-07:002017-05-27T09:22:34.218-07:00Hanging on the Hornet with Hyneman<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EoMyWdyf7N0/WSG46HQtHKI/AAAAAAAAHBo/0XzqKka7ACgAZDsJHU8eZkGVHUN7_QbqQCLcB/s1600/Photo%2BMay%2B20%252C%2B2%2B11%2B09%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EoMyWdyf7N0/WSG46HQtHKI/AAAAAAAAHBo/0XzqKka7ACgAZDsJHU8eZkGVHUN7_QbqQCLcB/s640/Photo%2BMay%2B20%252C%2B2%2B11%2B09%2BPM.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chuck, Jamie and me.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Saturday was a special day for me, as I had the honor and pleasure of moderating a discussion of STEM (science technology engineering math) education at the USS Hornet Sea, Air &amp; Space Museum with docent Chuck Myers and TV Mythbuster Jamie Hyneman.<br /><br />Jamie's been doing some prototyping for the U.S. Navy aboard the Hornet, in exchange for which they asked him to make an appearance.The opportunity to moderate came to me because the Hornet's STEM coordinator just had surgery and couldn't do it, the Hornet folks thought of me from other events I've done there, and maybe a bit because my daughter Laura is the museum's exhibition designer (although as I understand it, they approached her rather than the other way around).</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MnOnF3VIGrE/WSG8vXC9xOI/AAAAAAAAHCU/oDUcS-oTXaw3IEn0yhOolvr8CdRotKpqgCLcB/s1600/Jamie%2BBrian%2BChuck%2BLaura%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="367" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MnOnF3VIGrE/WSG8vXC9xOI/AAAAAAAAHCU/oDUcS-oTXaw3IEn0yhOolvr8CdRotKpqgCLcB/s400/Jamie%2BBrian%2BChuck%2BLaura%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jamie, me, Chuck, and Laura before the event.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iB6lesymcgI/WSG7iOU-UwI/AAAAAAAAHCE/9G-BlkDEOP4L3mcWquRuysv1cuf3EJM4ACLcB/s1600/Photo%2BMay%2B20%252C%2B11%2B48%2B32%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iB6lesymcgI/WSG7iOU-UwI/AAAAAAAAHCE/9G-BlkDEOP4L3mcWquRuysv1cuf3EJM4ACLcB/s400/Photo%2BMay%2B20%252C%2B11%2B48%2B32%2BAM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me showing Jamie the venue and set-up. With its folding chairs, shared microphones and little projector screen, I think he thought it was cute.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Jamie, Chuck, the Hornet staff and I exchanged e-mails for weeks in advance of the event, figuring out what it would be. The idea was <a href="https://www.uss-hornet.org/calendar/stem-to-stern-with-jamie-hyneman/" target="_blank">"STEM to Stern: How an Aircraft Carrier Works,"</a> and we settled on taking broad scientific concepts like transforming potential energy to kinetic energy, asking Jamie about his real-world experience air-dropping dummies and crashing trucks, and explaining how the concepts applied on the Hornet, e.g., catapulting airplanes off the flight deck. I prepared about three times as much material as I knew we'd use, Chuck prepared about five times as much, and Jamie showed up and told great stories.&nbsp;</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Did you know that a TA-4J Skyhawk (which was not coincidentally parked next to our talk) weighing 24,500 pounds landing on a carrier at 135 knots has about the same kinetic energy as a fully loaded 18-wheel semi truck weighing 80,000 pounds going 85 miles per hour (about 26 million joules)? I do, because I did the math on that. Imagine a semi going from 85 mph to a complete stop in 2 seconds, which is what those planes did. Lots of cool accelerations and forces involved.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eS8KPJFy0QQ/WSG6cTw5ktI/AAAAAAAAHB4/Q1R1UJulj44aVEh6yFP9IqewwMxKbolZwCLcB/s1600/Jamie%2BChuck%2BFresnel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eS8KPJFy0QQ/WSG6cTw5ktI/AAAAAAAAHB4/Q1R1UJulj44aVEh6yFP9IqewwMxKbolZwCLcB/s400/Jamie%2BChuck%2BFresnel.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My view from the podium, with the Skyhawk behind. Chuck brought a table full of equipment and props, most of which we didn't get around to talking about but a lot of people looked at afterward. Leaning against the flag behind Chuck is a giant flat Fresnel lens I brought from home (because the Hornet used Fresnel lenses to guide aircraft coming in for a landing), which we didn't get around to discussing either.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Jamie turned out to be pretty much the guy you see on TV. I was afraid he'd be very taciturn, answering with "yup" and "nope," but he's chatty and articulate when aimed at a topic he's passionate about. He was downright eloquent talking about the importance of learning by doing and "getting your hands dirty." I said how much I admired the Mythbusters motto "Failure is always an option" and Jamie explained how the program evolved from being about demonstration to experimentation as they found that the best episodes often happened when things went wrong. Over lunch before the talk, he told a small group of us a terrific story about riding out a Caribbean hurricane in his sailboat.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Jamie was very pleasant and professional throughout, but the most engaged I saw him was before the talk, when we snuck him into an employee lounge as a makeshift green room, only to find a half dozen aircraft restorers eating lunch. Jamie immediately opened a 10-minute discussion with them about the challenges of painting steel, as if that were the first question that had popped into his head when he woke up that morning. It was neat.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ke4pfFMkW00/WSG7KhMew0I/AAAAAAAAHCA/lCmLuRj-RDcl7XUsRvxyKAn_V7eFn75HgCLcB/s1600/Jamie%2BWHTTWOT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ke4pfFMkW00/WSG7KhMew0I/AAAAAAAAHCA/lCmLuRj-RDcl7XUsRvxyKAn_V7eFn75HgCLcB/s400/Jamie%2BWHTTWOT.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Of course</i> Jamie went home with copies of <i>Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow</i> and <i>Mom's Cancer.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Jamie's given hundreds of talks like this. While he seemed very willing to roll with whatever we had in mind, he also had clear opinions about what would work best. We did whatever he said. It worked best.</div><div><br /></div><div>I asked him privately if he missed Mythbusters. "No." He's very busy doing work he loves out of the public eye.</div><div><br /></div><div>In all the focus on Jamie, I don't want to shortchange Chuck, who has been a docent on the Hornet for seven years and served as a bridge officer on her identical sister ship, the USS Yorktown. He's the best. Chuck really knows his ship, but more important for our purposes, has a talent for explaining what he knows without bogging down in mind-numbing detail. Chuck prepared more than 30 slides and we ended up using seven or eight of them, and I just wish we'd had another hour to really dive into some of the material he'd come ready to talk about.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-agUA4HTkT0c/WSG_E8ih4-I/AAAAAAAAHCk/teY_sVfVzX0XQjAFVCMZXzJCZh-iWYKCgCLcB/s1600/Photo%2BMay%2B20%252C%2B2%2B20%2B34%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-agUA4HTkT0c/WSG_E8ih4-I/AAAAAAAAHCk/teY_sVfVzX0XQjAFVCMZXzJCZh-iWYKCgCLcB/s640/Photo%2BMay%2B20%252C%2B2%2B20%2B34%2BPM.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the back of the room. Deck. Whatever.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>But Chuck and I both understood what we signed up for. My idea as moderator was to come prepared but flexible enough to let the conversation follow its own course. I didn't have a checklist of points I had to hit, but if the talk wandered to thermodynamics, I was ready to discuss steam turbines and exploding water heaters. People came to see Jamie; my job was to keep the ride between the ditches and otherwise stay out of the way.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think it all went great! We had a couple hundred people turn out, which helped raise money for the Hornet's STEM program. All in all, the day was a real life and career highlight for me. I appreciate the Hornet crew giving me a chance to do it.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--Vwyciag2II/WSG8IkvlDQI/AAAAAAAAHCM/OULmtSA_rg0I9Iy_3Mw6XQ0riHEyG7stQCLcB/s1600/Jamie%2BLaura%2BRobin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--Vwyciag2II/WSG8IkvlDQI/AAAAAAAAHCM/OULmtSA_rg0I9Iy_3Mw6XQ0riHEyG7stQCLcB/s400/Jamie%2BLaura%2BRobin.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And I was glad I asked for this photo with my daughters Laura, the Hornet exhibitions designer, and Robin the archaeologist. They took most of the above photos for me and turned out to be excellent celebrity wranglers, escorting Jamie through the maze below decks.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div>Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-12381261097850987392017-05-15T02:00:00.000-07:002017-05-15T02:00:05.179-07:00The Last Mechanical Monster Lands at GoComics.com<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dnmhAEgttIs/WRTrKo9SC-I/AAAAAAAAHA0/mPoh9ZV0M5UyQogeZ5pGTLF45S5pjW8xwCLcB/s1600/LMM%2BHero%2BImage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dnmhAEgttIs/WRTrKo9SC-I/AAAAAAAAHA0/mPoh9ZV0M5UyQogeZ5pGTLF45S5pjW8xwCLcB/s640/LMM%2BHero%2BImage.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />One week from today, May 22, my Eisner-nominated webcomic <i>The Last Mechanical Monster</i> will begin appearing three days a week at <a href="http://www.gocomics.com/" target="_blank">GoComics.com</a>.<br /><br />I think that's pretty great.<br /><br />I began posting the comic myself in 2013 and, 170 pages later, finished it in 2015. I was upfront about <i>The Last Mechanical Monster</i> being a "work in progress"--it said so right in each page's header--which in practice meant it was almost all black-and-white art. I also used the opportunity to solicit readers' suggestions and feedback, and used some of it.<br /><br />Since then, I've colored the entire thing, and was honestly stunned by what a big difference it made. It really reads to me like a whole new story.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uu2eoxvBZj8/WRTtvjXSnbI/AAAAAAAAHBA/muq1ePLWK6Uk9nQnxqoRGoEZd_M8gWK-ACLcB/s1600/LMM%2BSample%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uu2eoxvBZj8/WRTtvjXSnbI/AAAAAAAAHBA/muq1ePLWK6Uk9nQnxqoRGoEZd_M8gWK-ACLcB/s640/LMM%2BSample%2B1.jpg" width="619" /></a></div><br />Now GoComics.com will offer it to a potentially much larger audience than I ever reached on my own.<br /><br />GoComics is the online arm of Andrews McMeel Universal, which syndicates most of the biggest and best comic strips and newspaper features in the world. <i>Peanuts, Doonesbury, Garfield, Pearls Before Swine, </i>and<i> Dear Abby</i> are all theirs. To be clear, <i>Last Mechanical Monster </i>will <i>not </i>be in newspapers, only online. That still means thousands of potential new eyeballs. CoComics readers can subscribe to a personalized list of comics via either a free or premium membership. I might even earn a few bucks if I get a lot of subscribers, and it's easy to sign up for a free account (*ahem*). If it does <i>really</i> well . . . who knows?<br /><br />GoComics readers familiar with my original story will notice one change right away. My first version made no secret that it was a sequel to the great 1941 Fleischer Studios "Superman" cartoon titled "The Mechanical Monsters." Those shorts have long been in the public domain, so while I obviously couldn't use Superman in my new material, I felt legally and ethically free to retell the old cartoon's story in an opening preface. Well, my editor at Andrews McMeel Universal was understandably leery of that, so the comic starts with a new two-page preface scrubbed of anything Super. Honestly? I think it works better than the original.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pvSHPkbsKZU/WRTuwLp3MGI/AAAAAAAAHBI/XLVf10HVZTYI75BXdkQVtDq2GGmKynLtgCLcB/s1600/LMM%2BSample%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pvSHPkbsKZU/WRTuwLp3MGI/AAAAAAAAHBI/XLVf10HVZTYI75BXdkQVtDq2GGmKynLtgCLcB/s640/LMM%2BSample%2B2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />A few things about doing <i>The Last Mechanical Monster</i> surprised me. I set out thinking of it as a palate-cleanser--a light little story about an old man and his giant robot that didn't demand of me the angst of <i>Mom's Cancer</i> or even the prodigious research of <i>Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?</i>&nbsp;I did it because it was an idea I'd kicked around for a long time that sounded like <i>fun,</i> and I needed to remind myself that comics could--and often should--be fun.<br /><br />And it was! Once I got on the right track (I've explained before how I spent many months writing and penciling more than 100 pages before realizing I wasn't telling the story I wanted to tell and started over from scratch, literally on the backs of the pages I'd already drawn), <i>The Last Mechanical Monster </i>was a hoot!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rxJ71rSff70/WRTz-EIhmlI/AAAAAAAAHBY/lEU5KPsVXwkAqC8oSG7bQcmnqneVQtWQgCEw/s1600/LMM%2BMain%2BCharacter%2BImage%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rxJ71rSff70/WRTz-EIhmlI/AAAAAAAAHBY/lEU5KPsVXwkAqC8oSG7bQcmnqneVQtWQgCEw/s320/LMM%2BMain%2BCharacter%2BImage%2B2.png" width="320" /></a></div>But y'know, that thing happened where the characters became kind of real to me, I felt bad when I made bad things happen to them, and sometimes they told me themselves what they wanted to do next. I found deeper themes about loss and legacy that struck a chord with me. When I finished the last page, a genuine sadness settled over me for days because I wouldn't be spending any more time with Sparky, Lillian, Helen, Chip and Ted. I missed them.<br /><br />Another surprise was how deeply some readers got involved with and even moved by the story. That comes with the territory when you do comics about illness or even Space Age history, but I honestly didn't expect anybody to really care about my giant robot comic. Yet some did. I had a wonderful correspondence with a man whose father had fallen into depression when his wife died, and my comic helped him climb out of it. The father sent me a song he composed, accompanying himself on the accordion, that makes me smile every time it comes around on my playlist.<br /><br />Who knew?<br /><br />So this is a cool deal. Thanks to Shena Wolf and John Glynn at Andrews McMeel Universal. I hope you'll check it out.<br /><br />In a stroke of good timing, a guy named <a href="https://mmsuperman.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">David Ely</a> is trying to splice together the definitive versions of the Fleischer "Superman" cartoons. They've been in bad shape for decades; Warners did a terrific digital restoration a few years ago but inexplicably introduced some errors. By combining the best of several different versions, David's trying to do the ultimate restoration. Here's his take on "The Mechanical Monsters," some of the most gorgeous animation ever done in the history of the medium, which has nothing whatsoever to do with my "Last Mechanical Monster." Enjoy it.<br /><div><br /></div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n7pFgE1biUs?ecver=1" width="560"></iframe>Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-26831577716993733382017-04-17T10:35:00.003-07:002017-06-12T12:23:50.669-07:00Enter the THIRD Dimension-n-n-n-n-n!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V6AXH9u_VTw/WPT3sgt2pyI/AAAAAAAAHAA/5yk2rCpMuGM3kyBKHvJHyf8YmsS4juiDgCLcB/s1600/3D%2BStrasbourg%2BCathedral%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V6AXH9u_VTw/WPT3sgt2pyI/AAAAAAAAHAA/5yk2rCpMuGM3kyBKHvJHyf8YmsS4juiDgCLcB/s640/3D%2BStrasbourg%2BCathedral%2B1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />A couple of posts ago, I concluded my Rhine River Cruise trip report with a three-dimensional photo of the Strasbourg Cathedral (above). I shot more photo sequences on that trip intending to make 3D pics ("anaglyphs") out of them, and put a few together this morning. You'll need old-school red-blue 3-D glasses to see them.<br /><br />In theory, making 3D pics like this is easy. You need two views of the same scene taken from slightly different vantage points, in the same way your eyes provide depth perception by seeing the world from two slightly different angles a few inches apart. So what I do is snap a photo, take one step to the right or left, and snap the exact same view. To cover my bases, I sometimes took four or five shots in a row like that: shoot, scootch, shoot, scootch, etc.<br /><br />You can do the same thing if you're in a vehicle moving horizontally past a scene--for instance, on a boat on a river! Take a shot, wait a second for the boat to move, take another shot: two views of the same scene from slightly different vantage points. (That's how NASA produces 3D photos of asteroids, comets, moons, and a lot of other space objects: take the first shot, fly by for a few more seconds or minutes, and take the second shot.)<br /><br />Then in Photoshop ("duotone") you turn the right image transparent red, the left image transparent green-blue, overlap them, and faster than you can say "Holy House of Wax!" you've got a 3D photo.<br /><br />In practice, I've found there's a lot of art involved in getting the angles, colors, and alignment just right to get a good 3D effect. Some of these work better than others.<br /><br />There are many other approaches to making 3D pics. You can make stereoscopic images, like the old Viewmaters slides, which let you use full color. In theory, you could also make full-color red-blue anaglyphs by deleting all the non-red out of one picture, all the non-blue out of the other picture, and overlapping them like I do here. I haven't had much success with that unless the original colors are balanced just right, which most of the real world isn't.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tcLgPfTWrj4/WPT50R2OAOI/AAAAAAAAHAM/rtIp5PQxz80jOnWpgM3KMnHTs2Q5pXBVwCLcB/s1600/3D%2BMarksburg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="531" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tcLgPfTWrj4/WPT50R2OAOI/AAAAAAAAHAM/rtIp5PQxz80jOnWpgM3KMnHTs2Q5pXBVwCLcB/s640/3D%2BMarksburg.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marksburg Castle. This is one of my less successful anaglyphs because I think there's too big a difference between the angles. Also, I shot them from the boat that was moving away from the castle in addition to past it, so there's some unwanted movement involved. Still, I think the 3D works.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dAwhSbWNcgc/WPT51oh83xI/AAAAAAAAHAU/7D954tbTdn0A3kZGwuWCKUXfPYcolVrCgCLcB/s1600/3D%2BMiddle%2BRhein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="497" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dAwhSbWNcgc/WPT51oh83xI/AAAAAAAAHAU/7D954tbTdn0A3kZGwuWCKUXfPYcolVrCgCLcB/s640/3D%2BMiddle%2BRhein.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A town along the Middle Rhine. There's also a big difference between these two angles, which gives the town a "cardboard cut-out" feel. But I like it.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tb2BKnkXthA/WPT50xIAzFI/AAAAAAAAHAQ/jvj5Vr-VjD0L_RAO51uh4-NdcQQ6douLQCLcB/s1600/3D%2BStatue%2BCologne%2BCathedral.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tb2BKnkXthA/WPT50xIAzFI/AAAAAAAAHAQ/jvj5Vr-VjD0L_RAO51uh4-NdcQQ6douLQCLcB/s640/3D%2BStatue%2BCologne%2BCathedral.jpg" width="459" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A statue in the Cologne Cathedral. The upward angle gives it a nice depth of field, I think.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NoSj3EVsIaw/WPT6zWC-t2I/AAAAAAAAHAc/E-kODN_LN_4fCG_CmdPXWtWxI3shyoWCwCLcB/s1600/3D%2BColmar%2BChurch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="577" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NoSj3EVsIaw/WPT6zWC-t2I/AAAAAAAAHAc/E-kODN_LN_4fCG_CmdPXWtWxI3shyoWCwCLcB/s640/3D%2BColmar%2BChurch.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cathedral in Colmar. Notice how the lady walking by appears twice (by the lamp post and by the corner at center-right), as her position changed in the time it took me to shoot two pictures.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zRaCetjkao0/WPT7WEWonhI/AAAAAAAAHAk/Vy75EJgJqvcgdYr5cQz4t3irb6Hy1QuxgCLcB/s1600/3D%2BColmar%2BChurch%2BFusion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zRaCetjkao0/WPT7WEWonhI/AAAAAAAAHAk/Vy75EJgJqvcgdYr5cQz4t3irb6Hy1QuxgCLcB/s640/3D%2BColmar%2BChurch%2BFusion.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally, try this. It works by a technique called "free fusion" that was also used in those "Magic Eye" posters that were popular 20 years ago. Stare at the picture and relax your eyes--don't cross them--as if you're looking through your monitor. The left and right images may merge into a center one that pops into 3D. Some folks can do it and some can't (my wife Karen is convinced the Magic Eye posters were just a joke people played along with to make other people look foolish). With a bit of practice/exercise it gets easy.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-13545001430569668302017-04-07T10:40:00.000-07:002017-04-08T08:47:03.428-07:00A Matter of Perspective<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mTelyNIX3yE/WOe4MMiQ0oI/AAAAAAAAG94/w6iKKxOxZfAJlmyyVLlUeBwmILdhC1i6gCLcB/s1600/ThreePoint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="325" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mTelyNIX3yE/WOe4MMiQ0oI/AAAAAAAAG94/w6iKKxOxZfAJlmyyVLlUeBwmILdhC1i6gCLcB/s400/ThreePoint.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three-point perspective I did for "Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?"</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I see a lot of artists complain that drawing in perspective is hard. I don't understand that. It's one of the first things they teach in middle school art class, and mastering it should be as fundamental to any artist as using a hammer is to a carpenter. Whenever a drawing isn't "working" for me, it's often because I haven't thought through its perspective; once I do that, the composition fixes itself.<br /><br />Granting that different brains work in different ways, if you can draw a straight "horizon line" across the page and set up one, two or three "vanishing points," depending on the effect you want, the rest is drawing simple straight lines. There are a lot of lessons online and elsewhere about how to do that, and this isn't one of them.<br /><br />Instead, this is a tip to share something I did today that, it occurred to me, might <i>not</i> be common knowledge.<br /><br />The standard technique for drawing perspective is to establish a horizon line and vanishing point:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-anNOcIWKWRg/WOe96CZp4mI/AAAAAAAAG-I/AigKoCfPNhk2CgAvIfHtKWx1SrRm_H3cACLcB/s1600/Persp%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-anNOcIWKWRg/WOe96CZp4mI/AAAAAAAAG-I/AigKoCfPNhk2CgAvIfHtKWx1SrRm_H3cACLcB/s400/Persp%2B1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />The horizon line is literally that: the line that divides earth from sky. Then, assuming other figures are the same height as the first, fitting them within those perspective lines will make them all look the same size.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vR0QX9Dpalo/WOe-Q5PSaYI/AAAAAAAAG-M/J6qkRqijyO0QFA6AR8YJ1yNPTwsvaJlsQCLcB/s1600/Persp%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vR0QX9Dpalo/WOe-Q5PSaYI/AAAAAAAAG-M/J6qkRqijyO0QFA6AR8YJ1yNPTwsvaJlsQCLcB/s400/Persp%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />The same technique works for telephone poles, railroad ties, whatever you've got. But this morning I did something I often do but haven't seen written up in the usual tutorials. <i>I do it backwards.</i><br /><br />Let's say that, for whatever reason--maybe there's a caption box in the way, maybe you just like the composition--you want to arrange the figures in some arbitrary way:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZmbclvvBpKE/WOfBALVJ42I/AAAAAAAAG-o/a1dSqK4TxJw3XFRggYt9y4LrDGQtxjVEACLcB/s1600/Persp%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZmbclvvBpKE/WOfBALVJ42I/AAAAAAAAG-o/a1dSqK4TxJw3XFRggYt9y4LrDGQtxjVEACLcB/s400/Persp%2B4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />To complete the drawing so that those figures make sense--to make it clear that neither is a giant or a dwarf--I want to find the horizon line. No problem. The key is this: assuming your figures are the same height,&nbsp;<i>the horizon line hits at whatever parts of their bodies are level with each other.</i><br /><br />For the drawing above, their shoulders are at the same level, so that's where I put the horizon line.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rvawMZTN14k/WOfFSwjxuPI/AAAAAAAAG_E/Bv3GOloSIAo9feTN4N9bfYwqBZ3vlDonwCLcB/s1600/Persp%2B4ab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rvawMZTN14k/WOfFSwjxuPI/AAAAAAAAG_E/Bv3GOloSIAo9feTN4N9bfYwqBZ3vlDonwCLcB/s400/Persp%2B4ab.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Find a vanishing point by drawing a line from the tops of their heads through the horizon line, and carry on from there. In particular, other figures that are the same height will fit within the same perspective lines, and all their shoulders will hit the horizon line, too!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZP_bNwcneME/WOfBrEddcvI/AAAAAAAAG-w/oo6yBdDLjbUYfNtwXIGdporTYJcVqZS5QCLcB/s1600/Persp%2B4b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZP_bNwcneME/WOfBrEddcvI/AAAAAAAAG-w/oo6yBdDLjbUYfNtwXIGdporTYJcVqZS5QCLcB/s400/Persp%2B4b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />This may not seem very useful. How often would you want to draw a column of people lined up like telephone poles? Ah! Once you've figured out how large the figures look at different distances, then <i>all</i> figures at that distance (again, assuming they're supposed to be the same height) will be that size. Here I've drawn orange lines marking the height of the orange-coated figure, and purple lines marking the height of the purple-coated figure.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jWvxm8UT6XU/WOfCz6iJc2I/AAAAAAAAG-4/_r635R2BnEskqtx2lAmQtnpPTChvjtY3QCLcB/s1600/Persp%2B4c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jWvxm8UT6XU/WOfCz6iJc2I/AAAAAAAAG-4/_r635R2BnEskqtx2lAmQtnpPTChvjtY3QCLcB/s400/Persp%2B4c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Once you know your horizon line and vanishing point(s), you can put your people anywhere, then create a world of railroad ties, telephone poles, buildings, trees, roads, earth and sky for them to live in. (And look at how all their shoulders line up with the horizon!)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mPcoS6GRKls/WOfLV2WWrBI/AAAAAAAAG_U/7ph8_v2RU4gZknGi_TYhuVIs8wa89X3wACLcB/s1600/Persp%2B4d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mPcoS6GRKls/WOfLV2WWrBI/AAAAAAAAG_U/7ph8_v2RU4gZknGi_TYhuVIs8wa89X3wACLcB/s400/Persp%2B4d.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Tuck that away, maybe my back-asswards perspective cheat will be useful someday.Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-84689127163671741462017-04-03T11:52:00.001-07:002017-04-04T15:59:39.687-07:00Untravelogue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8klcDFHn5RE/WOJinpuXvwI/AAAAAAAAG6k/mfgTD4DjWyIvWmkjMDkuP7WrPc5pLk05gCLcB/s1600/Selfies.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8klcDFHn5RE/WOJinpuXvwI/AAAAAAAAG6k/mfgTD4DjWyIvWmkjMDkuP7WrPc5pLk05gCLcB/s400/Selfies.gif" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Karen and I just returned from ten days in Europe, including an eight-day Viking Cruise up the Rhine River, and I'm <i>not </i>going to tell you all about it.<br /><br />It's hard to report on your international travels without being obnoxious. Bragging is kind of built in. Not everyone can do it (or wants to), and we're grateful we have the resources to take a trip like that. I also know that spending one day somewhere doesn't make me an expert on it, so I'm not inclined to deliver a travel lecture.<br /><br />Still, I noticed what I noticed. A few observations:<br /><br />Our voyage began in Amsterdam. We arrived a couple of days early to enjoy the city on our own, then cruised upstream with stops in Cologne, Heidelberg, Strasbourg, and various German and French landmarks as we made our way south. It rained our first day in Amsterdam; after that, the weather couldn't have been better.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cPiQkMPEe7g/WOJpLJXHtNI/AAAAAAAAG6s/46ZNj4kAnsoXl4XFimUCwpY5E_CYD1ZbwCLcB/s1600/DSCN0180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cPiQkMPEe7g/WOJpLJXHtNI/AAAAAAAAG6s/46ZNj4kAnsoXl4XFimUCwpY5E_CYD1ZbwCLcB/s400/DSCN0180.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just another perfect day in Amsterdam.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I liked Viking and its river "longship" (sized just right to fit through the Rhine's network of locks) very much. That said, it wouldn't be for everyone. The entire ship consisted of cabins, restaurant, lounge and sundeck. That's it. If your ideal cruise experience includes a casino, Broadway-style entertainment and water slides, you'd be disappointed and bored. I found the scale just right. On the other hand, if your ideal tour experience leans more toward do-it-yourself backpacks and hostels, Viking would be too structured and touristy. We basically looked at it as a mobile hotel so we didn't have to schlep our stuff around.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zm-gZCaqLUc/WOJlfhAsx2I/AAAAAAAAG6o/VkEYFS7v2a8yb1sSFhe7iqGGB7vs6tB2QCLcB/s1600/DSCN0892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zm-gZCaqLUc/WOJlfhAsx2I/AAAAAAAAG6o/VkEYFS7v2a8yb1sSFhe7iqGGB7vs6tB2QCLcB/s400/DSCN0892.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our ship, the "Idi," docked on the bank of the Rhine.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The smartest advertising campaign of the decade was Viking sponsoring "Downton Abbey" on PBS.<br /><br />Around the towns, Karen and I noticed a distinct lack of accommodation for the disabled--treacherous stairs, steps, thresholds, curbs and cobblestones that would never fly in the States. On the other hand, governments appear to trust adults to behave like adults and not do stupid things to hurt themselves. People seem to respond in kind.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J3oI1ititxs/WOJqoJkIxpI/AAAAAAAAG60/5YkgFJE5_R8eZHTMoaSsEtJwM7wupy8gwCLcB/s1600/DSCN0166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J3oI1ititxs/WOJqoJkIxpI/AAAAAAAAG60/5YkgFJE5_R8eZHTMoaSsEtJwM7wupy8gwCLcB/s400/DSCN0166.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the left, an Amsterdam canal. On the right, a row of parked cars. There's no rail or curb between them. In the United States they'd be fishing a hundred cars a day out of the water.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I could have taken a thousand photos of nothing but cockeyed 500-year-old brick buildings leaning precariously into the street.<br /><br />We walked past, but did not stand in a long line to tour, Anne Frank's house. I was still moved. It's hard to describe, but one of the great benefits I get out of travel is remapping my mental geography. Like, the first time I visited Manhattan, I knew about the Empire State Building and the New York Public Library and Times Square and all the other famous landmarks, but didn't know how they fit together until I walked them. Same with Anne Frank. Until I visited, I couldn't imagine Nazis dragging a girl out of <i>this</i> house overlooking <i>this</i> lovely canal down <i>this </i>street I was walking on. It became real. Stunning.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3RaENEJJylY/WOJusIkAcaI/AAAAAAAAG64/yqv0uQkJwVoSy8bor-BgQUwwPMhe0iqZQCLcB/s1600/DSCN0194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3RaENEJJylY/WOJusIkAcaI/AAAAAAAAG64/yqv0uQkJwVoSy8bor-BgQUwwPMhe0iqZQCLcB/s400/DSCN0194.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br />For a people who appear to subsist on pickled herring, brown gravy, cheese and cigarettes, Amsterdamers look remarkably fit.<br /><br />There are a lot of very tall women in the Netherlands.<br /><br />After decades living in a dry land of low-flow plumbing, it's wonderful to be in a country whose very existence is defined by having too much water. Amsterdam gave me the best shower I've had in years, with enough pressure to generate a kilowatt of electricity if I'd blasted it through a generator.<br /><br />We saw many "coffee houses" that served more pot than coffee and a bit of Amsterdam's legal red-light district. Neither were intrusive. The working ladies in the windows just looked sad; also, all the women we saw were black, which raised many red flags about who's exploiting whom for what. There was nothing sexy about it.<br /><br />Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum is truly one of the world's great museums, and our time spent with Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh was transcendent. Still, there comes a point when you feel like once you've seen 400 paintings of rosy-cheeked local politicians dressed in black satin suits with frilly lace collars, you've seen then all.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dqjxvKWuK3M/WOJyXRGaqrI/AAAAAAAAG68/im2PEycTZi8qMgG1ePKlwQDcfbb61OxEgCLcB/s1600/DSCN0101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dqjxvKWuK3M/WOJyXRGaqrI/AAAAAAAAG68/im2PEycTZi8qMgG1ePKlwQDcfbb61OxEgCLcB/s400/DSCN0101.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and this guy.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UXHaqLYqZT0/WOJyk-48yhI/AAAAAAAAG7A/9X0jSgZo1MszX5FBd5ghf7HuzBqRot5PwCLcB/s1600/DSCN0115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UXHaqLYqZT0/WOJyk-48yhI/AAAAAAAAG7A/9X0jSgZo1MszX5FBd5ghf7HuzBqRot5PwCLcB/s400/DSCN0115.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also those guys.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The delicious cheese called Gouda is apparently pronounced "gow-da," not "goo-da." I've been doing it wrong. But if you can't trust a teenage girl earning minimum wage at the Cheese Museum, who can you?<br /><br />Hot chocolate = tall mug of steamed milk&nbsp;+ a little bowl of chocolate chips you melt into the hot milk. It works!<br /><br />I think it's a universal law: wherever you go in the world--from the highest peak to the deepest jungle--you'll run into someone from home. When Karen and I travel, we tell people we're from California. If they want more, we say San Francisco. It's close enough and everyone's heard of it. We got to talking with another couple on the cruise and drilled down to discover we live about six miles from each other. It's a small big world. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wLJiV3MgsKg/WOKHg-xdGUI/AAAAAAAAG7w/ErP4wwfU8gkOkCQ5mJ8PhjHUomMRHroywCLcB/s1600/DSCN0286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wLJiV3MgsKg/WOKHg-xdGUI/AAAAAAAAG7w/ErP4wwfU8gkOkCQ5mJ8PhjHUomMRHroywCLcB/s400/DSCN0286.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There aren't many old, authentic windmills left anymore, but the Dutch cherish those that remain at Kinderdijk.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The floor of a building you walk into from the street is numbered "0." The floor above that is "1," and so on. There's a certain number-line logic to it, but the number of times I ended up on the wrong floor due to this convention was non-zero.<br /><br />The exchange rate was good: 1.08 dollars per euro. Nothing seemed too expensive.<br /><br />Most popular street food: french fries in a paper cone topped with one of various sauces, most of them mayonnaise-based. We put satay sauce on ours. Pretty good!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GWE4dMdfC0w/WOKNxfHkJuI/AAAAAAAAG8E/4ZvDc8NZ_JUyWFFOGZiH7FU2iEMrMyMEgCLcB/s1600/DSCN0154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GWE4dMdfC0w/WOKNxfHkJuI/AAAAAAAAG8E/4ZvDc8NZ_JUyWFFOGZiH7FU2iEMrMyMEgCLcB/s400/DSCN0154.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queued up for fries. The chart at right lists the 20 or 30 sauces you can put on them.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I was delighted to exercise my two years of high school German on shopkeepers even when it wasn't necessary. Karen is skeptical, but I remembered more than I expected to and believe I could actually survive in Germany if I had to. "Ein Bier, bitte." I'm good.<br /><br />That said, English is the <i>lingua franca</i> that worked everywhere.<br /><br />Nearly everyone we encountered in the Netherlands was fully bilingual. What surprised me was how often English was their <i>first</i> go-to greeting rather than their follow-up, even to their fellow Dutch. I've been in parts of the United States (<i>ahem</i> Miami) where that's not true. Germans tended to try German first, then switch to English. The French knew English but didn't give a damn.<br /><br />German villages on the Rhine look like model train layouts.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QvGCfm1Cqf4/WOJ1ykU4U_I/AAAAAAAAG7I/BmnrW1IRnYI-UB58PN9EUtDdVSYjI4gWQCLcB/s1600/DSCN0468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QvGCfm1Cqf4/WOJ1ykU4U_I/AAAAAAAAG7I/BmnrW1IRnYI-UB58PN9EUtDdVSYjI4gWQCLcB/s400/DSCN0468.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toot toot.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />More than one guide made a big deal of the pre-Reformation Catholic Church's corruption and greed without acknowledging that their jobs depended on giving tours of the architecture and art it produced. Not that they're wrong, but there's an irony there.<br /><br />St. Peter's Cathedral in Cologne was breathtaking. Its twin spires rise up from the horizon miles away, and as impressive as it is in the 21st century, imagine how much moreso it must have been in the Middle Ages. Begun in 1248 and only completed in 1880, it's a Gothic wonder. Probably the single most spectacular, awesome thing I saw on the trip.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VHrh0n6ldsA/WOKGVYANb0I/AAAAAAAAG7g/brzFveLHFV4KatH73FMXQzGLeP3Z1iGXACLcB/s1600/DSCN0301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VHrh0n6ldsA/WOKGVYANb0I/AAAAAAAAG7g/brzFveLHFV4KatH73FMXQzGLeP3Z1iGXACLcB/s400/DSCN0301.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NDoNIBv3no4/WOKGVrcCTbI/AAAAAAAAG7k/8t-XgE1HWzMM4bFYsr9NCOSBU5ipaS3PQCLcB/s1600/DSCN0321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NDoNIBv3no4/WOKGVrcCTbI/AAAAAAAAG7k/8t-XgE1HWzMM4bFYsr9NCOSBU5ipaS3PQCLcB/s400/DSCN0321.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mVkXi-bIVf8/WOKGVsNZtlI/AAAAAAAAG7o/roBgxBW244sBTI8QJ3HvOOmaDeTOfY30ACLcB/s1600/DSCN0349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mVkXi-bIVf8/WOKGVsNZtlI/AAAAAAAAG7o/roBgxBW244sBTI8QJ3HvOOmaDeTOfY30ACLcB/s400/DSCN0349.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">We lit a couple of candles to remember those to whom it would have meant a lot, including my Mom.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L1B8naUii1k/WOKGpecfZYI/AAAAAAAAG7s/z4e5HUKxIXMNdRwlxkwCmu09qE8WmrytACLcB/s1600/IMG_0915.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L1B8naUii1k/WOKGpecfZYI/AAAAAAAAG7s/z4e5HUKxIXMNdRwlxkwCmu09qE8WmrytACLcB/s400/IMG_0915.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />This may lose me some friends, but I wasn't impressed with German beer. I was really looking forward to sampling beers made under the country's centuries-old Reinheitsgebot purity laws, and asking for "something local and good" usually turns up some gems for me. Maybe I went to the wrong places, got the wrong stuff, or have had my palate ruined by hoppy West Coast brews, but to me it all seemed pale and bland, like people accuse American beers of being. Further research may be required.<br /><br />In <i>A Tramp Abroad,</i> Mark Twain called Heidelberg Castle a perfect wreck, writing that "a ruin must be rightly situated to be effective. This one could not have been better placed. It stands upon a commanding elevation, it is buried in green woods . . . and one looks down through shining leaves into profound chasms and abysses where twilight reins."<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-boWM9SuLMXw/WOKC2e6kLXI/AAAAAAAAG7Y/05XNJDw64YUPb2W87ER-X0izXZ4VXK7QgCLcB/s1600/DSCN0609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-boWM9SuLMXw/WOKC2e6kLXI/AAAAAAAAG7Y/05XNJDw64YUPb2W87ER-X0izXZ4VXK7QgCLcB/s400/DSCN0609.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"One of these old towers is split down the middle, and one half has tumbled aside . . . The standing half exposes its arched and cavernous rooms to you, like open, toothless mouths." Mark Twain, 1880.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h9dezkiiyBc/WOKDYeGgS2I/AAAAAAAAG7c/gXV_cqNFVUMkMi-wKm-kphoK1vtzMW8mQCLcB/s1600/DSCN0631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h9dezkiiyBc/WOKDYeGgS2I/AAAAAAAAG7c/gXV_cqNFVUMkMi-wKm-kphoK1vtzMW8mQCLcB/s400/DSCN0631.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />There's a lot of commercial river traffic on the Rhine. About half the barges have a single car on deck beside their cargo--I imagine so the owner can drive around once he gets to where he's going.<br /><br />In my very limited experience, the best traveling companions are elderly Scots with endless reservoirs of great stories who can dance and drink you under the table.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u4koRxFlaVQ/WOJ2RwQAa6I/AAAAAAAAG7M/c8UzMh6Iwiw9KQIbHlzRoIQJvrBvOSsdgCLcB/s1600/IMG_1083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u4koRxFlaVQ/WOJ2RwQAa6I/AAAAAAAAG7M/c8UzMh6Iwiw9KQIbHlzRoIQJvrBvOSsdgCLcB/s320/IMG_1083.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For example, our friends Wilson and Iris. Wilson will kick your ass while Iris rolls her eyes at him.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Man, did we bomb the hell out of Germany during World War II. I'm not saying they didn't have it coming, but the history of every town we visited was told in two chapters: Before the War, and After the War.<br /><br />For the village of Rüdesheim, that page turned on Saturday, November 25, 1944. Every significant building in town had a little plaque that read (in German) something like "Built 1362. Destroyed 25 November 1944. Rebuilt 1956." <br /><br />I felt some cognitive dissonance while listening to a guide describe how bullets gouged holes into a cathedral facade during the war when those holes were directly above a woman begging for coins.<br /><br />You haven't really heard the songs "Margaritaville" or "Sweet Caroline" until you've heard them in the original German.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8omsh4RfY4c?ecver=1" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />Karen showed previously untapped musical talent.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FC49CBA3inE?ecver=1" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />&nbsp;Troupes of little streamer-twirling girls dancing in village spring festivals know "Let It Go" as well as little girls anywhere else.<br /><br />When the sun comes out, Germans flock to the river by the thousands to sit and talk and play. Docked one afternoon, we saw a mob of people a quarter mile down the bank and walked over to see what was going on. Turned out it was called "Sunday."<br /><br />In France, posted hours of operation seem to be more casual suggestions than reliable business commitments.<br /><br />How one nation can support 837 patisseries per square block is beyond me, but all seem to survive. If France's incidence of celiac disease is lower than average, I suspect it's because all the delicious breads and pastries killed off anyone carrying the gluten-intolerance gene centuries ago.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FGlTtu9EFJE/WOJ_IEHGZPI/AAAAAAAAG7U/E3jyZWvpqz8oSWDG5sCiClZeh6BAMruEgCLcB/s1600/DSCN0798.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FGlTtu9EFJE/WOJ_IEHGZPI/AAAAAAAAG7U/E3jyZWvpqz8oSWDG5sCiClZeh6BAMruEgCLcB/s400/DSCN0798.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">However, macarons <i>are</i> gluten-free.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Karen and I discovered that we were unable to walk through a French town without singing the "Little town, it's a quiet village" song from "Beauty and the Beast," especially when there actually was a baker with his tray like always, the same old bread and rolls to sell. "Bonjour!" "Bonjour!" "Bonjour bonjour bonjour!"<br /><br />Similarly, it turns out it's impossible for me to be on a ship passing through a lock without humming the music from this scene in my head, and sometimes aloud:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-p1hxvPOIhE?ecver=1" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />Nerd.<br /><br />European cooks should probably not attempt to make fried chicken and waffles, a quintessentially American (and, more, a rural black American) dish. Our ship chef's version came off like someone trying to kiss a girl after only reading about it in books. It had no soul.<br /><br />My great-grandmother came from Alsace-Lorraine. I didn't know her, she died when I was a baby, but I was touched to see the landscape where one-eighth of my DNA came from, and easily imagined her walking the ancient streets of Strasbourg or Colmar.<br /><br />Speaking of Strasbourg:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gDai-VOEpws?ecver=1" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />Sat down on a patio in Strasbourg and ordered a <i>tarte flambée</i> with gruyere, onions and lardons, not really sure what to expect. Based on my zero understanding of French and the list of ingredients, I thought maybe something like a little quiche. Imagine my surprise and delight when a flatbread pizza showed up. Even better, it was one of the best I've ever had.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6bobAHm4MzQ/WOKLrdmKcrI/AAAAAAAAG74/a5GEiHukT8ovq8-zKqSxBLVirNbPV7PPACLcB/s1600/DSCN0868%2Bcrop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6bobAHm4MzQ/WOKLrdmKcrI/AAAAAAAAG74/a5GEiHukT8ovq8-zKqSxBLVirNbPV7PPACLcB/s400/DSCN0868%2Bcrop.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Random photos of things I found interesting:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hZKZv1dI7sc/WOKNDCW-MNI/AAAAAAAAG78/XLpu-Sh1g1src7ZWOS69L87awVUreg4dwCLcB/s1600/DSCN0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hZKZv1dI7sc/WOKNDCW-MNI/AAAAAAAAG78/XLpu-Sh1g1src7ZWOS69L87awVUreg4dwCLcB/s400/DSCN0077.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful dial indicating wind direction at Amsterdam's central train station. I like that its southeast point reads "Oz" (because in Dutch east is "oosten" and south is "zuiden").</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I6IgC-K5Hr8/WOKNDBtmWdI/AAAAAAAAG8A/cvmayfMP29oIU8qwriVTbhl6FHEDc-AUQCLcB/s1600/DSCN0093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I6IgC-K5Hr8/WOKNDBtmWdI/AAAAAAAAG8A/cvmayfMP29oIU8qwriVTbhl6FHEDc-AUQCLcB/s400/DSCN0093.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Official metric weights and measurement standards from 1820, at the Rijksmuseum.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xiPbhI5Z5QU/WOKOMffFlhI/AAAAAAAAG8I/2JFOH9QBA6ErzQqdvp9DtMH_QRFPR-fjwCLcB/s1600/DSCN0123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xiPbhI5Z5QU/WOKOMffFlhI/AAAAAAAAG8I/2JFOH9QBA6ErzQqdvp9DtMH_QRFPR-fjwCLcB/s400/DSCN0123.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very rich girl's giant dollhouse, followed below by a painting of that very same dollhouse done in 1710, at the Rijksmuseum.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDVlz2Vf7EQ/WOKOMaMlSOI/AAAAAAAAG8M/DKks1uah7-E5MKPZ2X1C_0S0oWNDEW6VQCLcB/s1600/DSCN0124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDVlz2Vf7EQ/WOKOMaMlSOI/AAAAAAAAG8M/DKks1uah7-E5MKPZ2X1C_0S0oWNDEW6VQCLcB/s400/DSCN0124.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TLzXBP7nv8o/WOKPJfBo9MI/AAAAAAAAG8U/dHYxHv9DKF8DM2P82yHCvECA4G2ayoJlACLcB/s1600/DSCN0202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TLzXBP7nv8o/WOKPJfBo9MI/AAAAAAAAG8U/dHYxHv9DKF8DM2P82yHCvECA4G2ayoJlACLcB/s400/DSCN0202.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tulip Museum next to the Cheese Museum, Amsterdam.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5EUuZBq2dBE/WOKPJf_8NqI/AAAAAAAAG8Q/FuipvhncjRwBTTcecAAM7BThOCMa3hHKACLcB/s1600/DSCN0211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5EUuZBq2dBE/WOKPJf_8NqI/AAAAAAAAG8Q/FuipvhncjRwBTTcecAAM7BThOCMa3hHKACLcB/s400/DSCN0211.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amsterdam is a cyclist's town. Didn't see very many nice bikes, mostly old, heavy clunkers that people left unlocked. Don't get in their way, they'll run you down.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6ZmpEl-VmE/WOKRx98P8cI/AAAAAAAAG8c/8uQ-BIdvHmc4-jBtAvhO99Lo4u9XPmJxQCLcB/s1600/DSCN0291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6ZmpEl-VmE/WOKRx98P8cI/AAAAAAAAG8c/8uQ-BIdvHmc4-jBtAvhO99Lo4u9XPmJxQCLcB/s400/DSCN0291.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Kinderdijk.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s2_3alc9rtc/WOKRx-A0SdI/AAAAAAAAG8g/Dez8yBs6o9MOb9Osnx1y_w9pJO1-IkzwwCLcB/s1600/DSCN0397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s2_3alc9rtc/WOKRx-A0SdI/AAAAAAAAG8g/Dez8yBs6o9MOb9Osnx1y_w9pJO1-IkzwwCLcB/s400/DSCN0397.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marksburg Castle . . .</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8GThN__Zg68/WOKRx9ElIOI/AAAAAAAAG8Y/pv8dIx_8yZ8rm97xD9jj4ihcu--DlTDvQCLcB/s1600/DSCN0412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8GThN__Zg68/WOKRx9ElIOI/AAAAAAAAG8Y/pv8dIx_8yZ8rm97xD9jj4ihcu--DlTDvQCLcB/s400/DSCN0412.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">. . . and the Rhine from Marksburg Castle, whose cannons could hit the far bank.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u3T2uDD6Sfo/WOKRzw4oW7I/AAAAAAAAG8k/Qw2j2Mq6gLILezWTgy4_riVUEcMWcB1vgCLcB/s1600/DSCN0419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u3T2uDD6Sfo/WOKRzw4oW7I/AAAAAAAAG8k/Qw2j2Mq6gLILezWTgy4_riVUEcMWcB1vgCLcB/s400/DSCN0419.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Medieval toilet at Marksburg Castle. The business end naturally opens onto a pathway below.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-onCcx6pTTIQ/WOKSvEPCnaI/AAAAAAAAG8o/zLrrOS1B-yM4yJ5oZz5Pd02DORRdQASjQCLcB/s1600/DSCN0472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-onCcx6pTTIQ/WOKSvEPCnaI/AAAAAAAAG8o/zLrrOS1B-yM4yJ5oZz5Pd02DORRdQASjQCLcB/s400/DSCN0472.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming from California's Wine Country, we were interested to see vineyards along the Rhine planted in rows that run up and down the hillsides, perpendicular to the way it's done back home. Don't know why.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kdCvXgGYEXI/WOKTRMkMy2I/AAAAAAAAG8s/kFK5o68CE38pve5UQSlKfYh2kAb4cJf7wCLcB/s1600/DSCN0240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kdCvXgGYEXI/WOKTRMkMy2I/AAAAAAAAG8s/kFK5o68CE38pve5UQSlKfYh2kAb4cJf7wCLcB/s400/DSCN0240.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noah's ark, near Rotterdam. I have no idea.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UPfYCGPoTqs/WOKUg4bBArI/AAAAAAAAG84/0VOXnVyHdSoTinX-YI41Ij4w3vtgmeiVACLcB/s1600/DSCN0700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UPfYCGPoTqs/WOKUg4bBArI/AAAAAAAAG84/0VOXnVyHdSoTinX-YI41Ij4w3vtgmeiVACLcB/s400/DSCN0700.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We could get used to this lifestyle. Heidelberg.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I3BwEWslI9A/WOKUguW898I/AAAAAAAAG80/8HBsIhwBup8VLlPg3Ldriib1gholUGv0QCLcB/s1600/DSCN0718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I3BwEWslI9A/WOKUguW898I/AAAAAAAAG80/8HBsIhwBup8VLlPg3Ldriib1gholUGv0QCLcB/s400/DSCN0718.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool museum in Speyer, Germany, dedicated to transportation technologies, especially aircraft . . .</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0cXvrJb3b6k/WOKUgswTnKI/AAAAAAAAG8w/LEiMeu_wsc8CUPmptNqCJ3Lkl1vODiXrwCLcB/s1600/DSCN0736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0cXvrJb3b6k/WOKUgswTnKI/AAAAAAAAG8w/LEiMeu_wsc8CUPmptNqCJ3Lkl1vODiXrwCLcB/s400/DSCN0736.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">. . . including an actual 747, mounted on pillars, that visitors can walk through.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OS0MNryPlWM/WOKUpMzD6fI/AAAAAAAAG88/TKgNsjmTQ5EekmyqxFrjR5_M88wqvZLqACLcB/s1600/DSCN0796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OS0MNryPlWM/WOKUpMzD6fI/AAAAAAAAG88/TKgNsjmTQ5EekmyqxFrjR5_M88wqvZLqACLcB/s400/DSCN0796.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Half-timber construction from the 15th century in old Strasbourg.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ifDfaUgyl28/WOKUp3JXlHI/AAAAAAAAG9A/t5WmMb1XJWQJLz_w13TNMU42iR9VF0iOwCLcB/s1600/DSCN0850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ifDfaUgyl28/WOKUp3JXlHI/AAAAAAAAG9A/t5WmMb1XJWQJLz_w13TNMU42iR9VF0iOwCLcB/s400/DSCN0850.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A terrific astronomical clock in Strasbourg Cathedral that marks time, Moon phase, and positions of the planets.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sYyHLJZsJKM/WOKUqB-S7oI/AAAAAAAAG9E/pY70xWXQpB8AWG1Q46MieH7AGEkGcROmgCLcB/s1600/DSCN0950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sYyHLJZsJKM/WOKUqB-S7oI/AAAAAAAAG9E/pY70xWXQpB8AWG1Q46MieH7AGEkGcROmgCLcB/s400/DSCN0950.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the Black Forest, which is not as foreboding as you might think.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-okv3w4uUBl8/WOKUuyPiOSI/AAAAAAAAG9I/OuhhfPLkOpkGS84YiQupdeGWqQ33i22ZQCLcB/s1600/DSCN1010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-okv3w4uUBl8/WOKUuyPiOSI/AAAAAAAAG9I/OuhhfPLkOpkGS84YiQupdeGWqQ33i22ZQCLcB/s400/DSCN1010.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Storks nesting (at upper right) atop a cathedral in Colmar. We saw many stork nests bringing their hosts lots of good luck and fertility.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iPzm27xBzvE/WOKUvpHXytI/AAAAAAAAG9M/iV6W3V4QctQ4xsckeSgGgHUQg8bmI_0JwCLcB/s1600/DSCN1045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iPzm27xBzvE/WOKUvpHXytI/AAAAAAAAG9M/iV6W3V4QctQ4xsckeSgGgHUQg8bmI_0JwCLcB/s400/DSCN1045.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were a few weeks early for prime tulip season but still caught them here and there.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u9o6bKGywpQ/WOLfhohBv0I/AAAAAAAAG9o/d5yrZOXWL0AKsK7MihZEx_1oTuFx_1LAwCLcB/s1600/IMG_0906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u9o6bKGywpQ/WOLfhohBv0I/AAAAAAAAG9o/d5yrZOXWL0AKsK7MihZEx_1oTuFx_1LAwCLcB/s400/IMG_0906.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And somewhere in there, we celebrated our anniversary, too.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />We managed to cram a lot of action into a week and half, and came home pretty tired but refreshed, the way you're supposed to be.<br /><br />Finally, pull out your red-blue 3-D glasses and enjoy this mind-blowing view of the soaring towers and flying buttresses of Strasbourg Cathedral. You're welcome.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wv_6AMT_Yxg/WOKZ02zVb9I/AAAAAAAAG9U/f5eJcrMTXYkjZI_ArVocUvRAxasREMvpQCLcB/s1600/3D%2BStrasbourg%2BCathedral%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wv_6AMT_Yxg/WOKZ02zVb9I/AAAAAAAAG9U/f5eJcrMTXYkjZI_ArVocUvRAxasREMvpQCLcB/s640/3D%2BStrasbourg%2BCathedral%2B1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-25097342118090303502017-02-21T17:17:00.001-08:002017-02-22T14:11:16.303-08:00A Curious Book of Curious Facts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n-HR81juQNE/WKzbfFZfNBI/AAAAAAAAG5M/DdaoPyThJtMX97JWeWF6e6pBgzezljU3wCLcB/s1600/Curious%2BFact%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n-HR81juQNE/WKzbfFZfNBI/AAAAAAAAG5M/DdaoPyThJtMX97JWeWF6e6pBgzezljU3wCLcB/s400/Curious%2BFact%2B1.jpg" width="271" /></a></div><br />Karen is a much better shopper than I am. I skim, she digs. The downside is that I can be done with an entire store while she's still circling the first display case. The upside is that she often finds treasures I miss--such as this book I overlooked and she caught at an antiques store a couple of weeks ago. She said, "You're buying this book," and she was right.<br /><br />Published in 1903,&nbsp;<i>Curious Facts Relating to Almost Everything Under the Sun&nbsp;</i>is an odd duck. It's a collection of brief news items, old wive's tales, "believe it or not" oddities, lists, poems, proverbs and advice organized in absolutely no order at all. It's like a <i>Guinness Book of World Records</i> crossed with an <i>Old Farmer's Almanac</i> minus the weather forecasts.<br /><br />It's kept me entertained for days. Some selections:<br /><br /><b><i>The Flapping of a Fly's Wing</i></b><br />The slow flapping of a butterfly's wing produces no sound, but when the movements are rapid a noise is produced, which often increases in shrillness with the number of vibrations. Thus the housefly, which produces the sound F, vibrates its wings 21,120 times a minute, or 335 times in a second; and the bee, which makes a sound of an A, as many as 26,400 times, or 440 times in a second. On the contrary, a tired bee hums on E, and therefore, according to theory, vibrates its wings only 330 times in a second . . .<br /><br /><b><i>Odd Marriage Records</i></b><br />Married at Bridgewater, Dec. 16, 1788, Capt. Thomas Baxter, of Quincy, aged 66, to Miss Whitman, of the former place, aged 57, after a long and tedious courtship of forty-eight years, which they both sustained with uncommon fortitude.<br /><br /><b><i>To Be Avoided</i></b><br />Don't use obsolete words.<br />Don't use technical terms.<br />Don't use slang expressions.<br />Don't write a feeble sentence.<br />Don't write a clumsy sentence.<br />Don't say commence for begin.<br />Don't write an obscure sentence.<br />Don't say vituperation for abuse.<br />Don't say initiate for commence.<br />Don't use foreign words or phrases.<br />Don't take an impracticable position.<br />Don't say "Bard of Florence" for Dante.<br />Don't tempt one to question your veracity.<br /><br /><b><i>Wonderful Echoes</i></b><br />Every one is familiar with the phenomenon of echoes. In a cave in the Pantheon, the guide, by striking the flap of his coat, makes a noise equal to a twelve-pound cannon's report . . . In the cave of Smellin, near Viborg, in Finland, a cat or a dog thrown in will make a screaming echo lasting some minutes . . .<br /><br /><b><i>Brain Impressions</i></b><br />It is computed by scientists that, since one-third of a second suffices to produce an "impression," in 100 years a man must have collected in his brain 9,467,280,000 copies of impressions; or, if we take off one-third of the time for sleep, 6,311,520,000. This would give 3,155,760,000 separate waking impressions to the man who lives to the age of 50 years. Allowing a weight of four pounds to the brain, and deducting one-fourth for blood and vessels and another fourth for external integument, it is further computed that each grain of brain substance must contain 205,542 traces or impressions.<br /><br /><b><i>Advice to a Young Man</i></b><br />Never whip your brain. All high pressure is dangerous. Study to think as quietly and easily as you breathe. Never force yourself to learn what you have no talent for. Knowledge without love will remain a lifeless manufacture, not a living growth. Be content to be ignorant of many things that you may know one thing well, and that the thing which God especially endowed you to know. It requires fire to fuse the materials of thinking, no less than to melt the iron in the foundry . . .<br /><br /><b><i>A Perfect Woman Nobly Planned</i></b><br />A perfectly formed woman will stand at the average height of 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 7 inches [sorry, Karen]. She will weigh from 125 to 140 pounds. A plumb line dropped from a point marked by the tip of her nose will fall at a point one inch in front of her great toe. Her shoulders and her hips will strike a straight line drawn up and down. Her waist will taper gradually to a size on a line drawn from the outer third of the collar bone to the hips . . . [Continued like that for five more paragraphs.]<br /><br /><b><i>A Boy Should Learn</i></b><br />To let cigarettes alone.<br />To be kind to all animals.<br />To be manly and courageous.<br />To ride, row, shoot, and swim.<br />To build a fence scientifically.<br />To fill the wood box every night.<br />To be gentle to his little sisters.<br />To shut doors without slamming.<br />To sew on a button and darn a stocking.<br />To do errands promptly and cheerfully.<br />To shut the door in winter to keep the cold out.<br />To shut doors in summer to keep the flies out.<br />To wash dishes and make his bed when necessary.<br />To have a dog if possible and make a companion of him.<br />To get ready to go away without the united efforts of mother and sister.<br /><br /><b><i>The Rewards of Editing</i></b><br />Sir--Apropos of the presently raging controversy between editors and publishers, some interest may be felt in the following list of honoraria paid to different editors of the various editions of Shakespeare, Milton, Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher:--<br /><br />For editing Shakespeare, Dr. Johnson (1st edition) was paid&nbsp;<span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt;">£</span>375 ($1,575).<br />For editing Shakespeare, Dr. Johnson (2nd edition) was paid&nbsp;<span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt;">£</span>100 ($500).<br />For editing Ben Jonson, the Rev. Mr. Whalley was paid&nbsp;<span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , &quot;serif&quot;; font-size: 12.0pt;">£</span>210 ($1,050).<br />[And so on for a page.]<br /><br /><b><i>Some Things We Don't Know</i></b><br />We may come down from out pedestal for a little--there are still two or three things we don't know. We do not know, for instance, how many of our kind there are on this globe. It is, after all, but a very small portion of the world that we know anything about, and the beaten path is but a trail on a mountain. The interior of Newfoundland is a terra incognita; there are islands in the Pacific of which we know nothing more than that they exist; China and Thibet (sic) are largely closed volumes, and about many other portions of this world there is as much guess work as there was in the days of Marco Polo.<br /><br />We cannot tell why of two exactly similar bulbs put into precisely similar soil one should bloom out as a tulip and the other come out as an onion. We do not know how the flowers receive their color or perfume, nor why it is that while we can catch the shadow in the camera we cannot also imprison the color.<br /><br />There are many things, too, for which we have not been able to frame laws. We cannot agree as to the cause of earthquakes, the origin of volcanic fires, or the birth-throes of the whirlwind. We do not even know our own origin, and the thinking world is divided between evolution and creation. We do not even know the normal color of man, whether we are bleached from the dark original, or whether the dark races are sun-burnt editions of the early whites. Was the flood local or universal? Did Atlantis exist? Were there giants in those days? These are a few of the many questions that might be asked and remain unanswered.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LfyxNDFeO4g/WKzk_5sMzuI/AAAAAAAAG5g/P8-eSs_JUuMImBB_DiYRvZvmBva3Ecl0gCLcB/s1600/Curious%2BFact%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LfyxNDFeO4g/WKzk_5sMzuI/AAAAAAAAG5g/P8-eSs_JUuMImBB_DiYRvZvmBva3Ecl0gCLcB/s400/Curious%2BFact%2B2.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br />Back in 2017 now . . . I've found a couple mentions of this book online but no real details. The publisher, A.L. Burt, sold reference books, cookbooks, and children's books between 1883 and 1937.<br /><br />I find the whole thing pretty enchanting and occasionally appalling in its casual 19th century racism, sexism, and other -isms that wouldn't have offended&nbsp;<i>anyone</i> in 1903. As always, I can't help wondering what its writers would think if they knew someone in the 21st century would be reading their work. It seems like a very pleasant sort of immortality. I'm happy to pass it along, and look forward to working "the bard of Florence" into my writing as the earliest opportunity.<br /><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-71892135042138011802017-01-29T17:34:00.000-08:002017-01-31T15:13:46.906-08:00LumaCon 3, Supervillains 0The joke in that title never gets old. To me. <br /><br />Local librarians threw the third annual <a href="http://www.lumacon.net/">LumaCon</a>&nbsp;in the city of Petaluma, Calif. last Saturday. If LumaCon had a mission statement, it'd include bringing students interested in writing, art, and comics together with amateur and professional practitioners to talk shop. It's small (attendance about 2500), free, low-key, down-home, and about as charming as could be. I even sold a few books. It's my absolute favorite comics convention.<br /><br />The people who organize LumaCon do it for the love of kids and comics. They treat their guests better than any convention I know of, providing a gift basket, a lounge generously stocked with snacks, and trusted sitters who are happy to watch your table while you meander or take a break. That last is a practical, generous service that other cons could emulate.<br /><br />I love talking with kids who want to make comics. This year I noticed more shy ones than in the past. They'd come up to the table, silent and staring, with a parent who talked about how much their son or daughter loved to draw pictures and make up stories. A nice way to open them up a bit was to show some of my original drawings and then show them how those drawings look as published in one of my books. I remember being young and not knowing, for example, that most comic art is drawn larger than it appears in print. I tried to demystify the process a bit. Making comics is work, but it's not magic. A few kids really seemed to get that. Some maybe went home excited to try it themselves.<br /><br />As I understand it, <i>that's</i>&nbsp;one of the points of LumaCon, which distinguishes it from all other cons I've attended.<br /><br />My daughters came and hung out with me for most of the day, but I'm forbidden to post photographic proof. However, I did try to get around and take some pictures.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wJxxmC43Iy8/WI6HwbVsKSI/AAAAAAAAG2w/ikigkYGnlBkYEe_mIomQAcvt8EStxfRaACLcB/s1600/IMG_0585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wJxxmC43Iy8/WI6HwbVsKSI/AAAAAAAAG2w/ikigkYGnlBkYEe_mIomQAcvt8EStxfRaACLcB/s400/IMG_0585.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LumaCon is held in a local community center. This is how you know you've found the right place.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YdejMblMj80/WI6HvgjTljI/AAAAAAAAG2s/IgvnVsUzCpo0K-j0qkr9q2GE6AmNzTu5QCLcB/s1600/IMG_0587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YdejMblMj80/WI6HvgjTljI/AAAAAAAAG2s/IgvnVsUzCpo0K-j0qkr9q2GE6AmNzTu5QCLcB/s400/IMG_0587.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">High school librarian Nathan Libecap, one of the head organizers, infused with as much energy and passion as if he'd been bitten by a radioactive spider. I don't get a lot of opportunities to wear that shirt.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MZecswYEQVU/WI6HxM-rdwI/AAAAAAAAG20/Pgj2e5sEDBQE5k38ZP4NOFpGO6q13xtjwCLcB/s1600/IMG_0589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MZecswYEQVU/WI6HxM-rdwI/AAAAAAAAG20/Pgj2e5sEDBQE5k38ZP4NOFpGO6q13xtjwCLcB/s400/IMG_0589.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was seated next to my friend Jason Whiton, who hosts <a href="http://spyvibe.blogspot.com/">SpyVibe</a> and has a terrific interest in, and knowledge of, mid-century mod/pop culture: The Prisoner, The Man from UNCLE, Dr. Who, cartoonist Mort Walker, and more. He's also a teacher. We talked all day. The Robot is a papercraft doll I engineered for my "Last Mechanical Monster" webcomic, intended as a sort of thank you prize for readers who made it to the end. I handed out little cards with a URL to the plans for anyone who wanted to try building it themselves. <a href="http://www.momscancer.com/Last%20Mechanical%20Monster%20v2.pdf">Give it a shot if you want</a>.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vRcjPTHQJv8/WI6LlAz1hpI/AAAAAAAAG3U/GFWugY7EQTsd-ZZkygzr-HwugjohfhwygCEw/s1600/IMG_0604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vRcjPTHQJv8/WI6LlAz1hpI/AAAAAAAAG3U/GFWugY7EQTsd-ZZkygzr-HwugjohfhwygCEw/s400/IMG_0604.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two angles on the main Artists' Room, above and below, taken from a stage. Cartoonists Lex Fajardo and Paige Braddock are in the foreground of the photo above.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-flJHV3Toxhk/WI6LlMjVFZI/AAAAAAAAG3Y/ZhJxamkx_zsfaTYUCixbJ_fHSa2GpqtcwCEw/s1600/IMG_0605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-flJHV3Toxhk/WI6LlMjVFZI/AAAAAAAAG3Y/ZhJxamkx_zsfaTYUCixbJ_fHSa2GpqtcwCEw/s400/IMG_0605.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fgW2LEfivYM/WI6MT0Mk6UI/AAAAAAAAG3g/P10StbV8cJ8aG2i7KZy-gaa05_tc-hlQACLcB/s1600/IMG_0602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fgW2LEfivYM/WI6MT0Mk6UI/AAAAAAAAG3g/P10StbV8cJ8aG2i7KZy-gaa05_tc-hlQACLcB/s400/IMG_0602.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turned around to get a picture of the Arts &amp; Crafts action on that stage. Good creative energy. All day I saw kids running around with cardboard Captain America-style shields they'd made.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zq2WQADSLA0/WI6UKHWNMFI/AAAAAAAAG4k/bNox9nSnxGgHes0jsr0nPaBl6VnvKWsMgCEw/s1600/IMG_0607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zq2WQADSLA0/WI6UKHWNMFI/AAAAAAAAG4k/bNox9nSnxGgHes0jsr0nPaBl6VnvKWsMgCEw/s400/IMG_0607.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vendors and booksellers crowded the entrance lobby.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qu5FJJJaEAg/WI7byy_8g6I/AAAAAAAAG48/PyfVnCYMFEIio5jBltHT5_MrPoO_bPSngCEw/s1600/IMG_0611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qu5FJJJaEAg/WI7byy_8g6I/AAAAAAAAG48/PyfVnCYMFEIio5jBltHT5_MrPoO_bPSngCEw/s400/IMG_0611.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bake sale. How can you not love a convention that has a bake sale?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KMjQirfdqeo/WI6NH0I38WI/AAAAAAAAG3o/3zSH0zZvo2I6VwM20Gfw0dgkjdZ0jGrSACLcB/s1600/IMG_0613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KMjQirfdqeo/WI6NH0I38WI/AAAAAAAAG3o/3zSH0zZvo2I6VwM20Gfw0dgkjdZ0jGrSACLcB/s400/IMG_0613.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the highlights of my day was sitting across from, and getting to talk with, Izzy Ehnes. She does single-panel cartoons with a smart and dark POV. Fair or not, the best comparable I can think of is "The Far Side." Two years ago Izzy attended the first LumaCon, where her work was spotted by cartoonists Stephan Pastis and Nick Galifianakis. Stephan recommended her to Universal-UClick editor John Glynn, which is how her comic&nbsp;<a href="http://www.gocomics.com/the-best-medicine">The Best Medicine</a>&nbsp;ended up with a worldwide audience on GoComics.com. See? It's just that easy.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G-fmBnUN2JA/WI6OwhnXJgI/AAAAAAAAG38/STYvKmoSZl4RqB0S3F-orywRsiwYBwcogCLcB/s1600/IMG_0599a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G-fmBnUN2JA/WI6OwhnXJgI/AAAAAAAAG38/STYvKmoSZl4RqB0S3F-orywRsiwYBwcogCLcB/s400/IMG_0599a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I checked in with another talented young woman, my friend Erin, who cartoons under the name Sam Coaass. Erin and her mother showed up at every local comics-related event since she was in middle school, and now she's in community college as determined as ever. &nbsp;No one can predict success but she has all the tools to achieve it.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CsxMFccPaVo/WI6Ou3FAQYI/AAAAAAAAG34/RrgWuZxzDGsjJshW3jypMK0ec1oFTjooQCLcB/s1600/IMG_0609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CsxMFccPaVo/WI6Ou3FAQYI/AAAAAAAAG34/RrgWuZxzDGsjJshW3jypMK0ec1oFTjooQCLcB/s400/IMG_0609.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paige Braddock and Art Roche from the Schulz Studio. Paige does a children's series called "Stinky Cecil" as well as decidedly non-children's work like "Jane's World" and "The Martian Confederacy." Art has a new book coming out soon titled "The Knights of Boo'Gar"; I've seen early drafts and think it could do well with fifth graders who like puns about boogers. Which is all of them.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IPQBAS0Y4Us/WI6Ox1au7XI/AAAAAAAAG4E/40peMH98IO0f0_sJBLvp0FBxt9aZVaG_ACLcB/s1600/IMG_0622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IPQBAS0Y4Us/WI6Ox1au7XI/AAAAAAAAG4E/40peMH98IO0f0_sJBLvp0FBxt9aZVaG_ACLcB/s400/IMG_0622.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lex Fajardo had kids and parents surrounding his "Kid Beowulf" booth all day. Long self-published, Kid B. is now being put out by publisher Andrews-McMeel, which has the potential to reach a much larger audience than Lex could on his own. Lex is very thoughtful about comics and works hard. I hope he's got a hit on his hands.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AV02ub_toMA/WI6OxkNbF5I/AAAAAAAAG4A/Q6_KVBlWlZgU-FqhUvacerUbR_xrhnraACLcB/s1600/IMG_0630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AV02ub_toMA/WI6OxkNbF5I/AAAAAAAAG4A/Q6_KVBlWlZgU-FqhUvacerUbR_xrhnraACLcB/s400/IMG_0630.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Said hello to <a href="http://tombelandart.tumblr.com/">Terrific Tom Beland</a> (now I feel like Stan Lee handing out nicknames to the Marvel Bullpen in 1965). Tom has freelanced for Marvel Comics, Image and IDW, did a great book titled "True Story Swear to God," and recently published "Chicacabra." He's got a smooth, elegant, clean inking style I really admire. Beautiful artwork and perceptive writing.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-61V-5MmloSw/WI6SoPzTkEI/AAAAAAAAG4U/gW9kq7Zn_SAPSFQRJOdbRYhSXRy2YI4xQCLcB/s1600/16409273_10154102744102385_1384149250_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-61V-5MmloSw/WI6SoPzTkEI/AAAAAAAAG4U/gW9kq7Zn_SAPSFQRJOdbRYhSXRy2YI4xQCLcB/s400/16409273_10154102744102385_1384149250_o.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason Whiton took this picture of me doing what I described at the start, showing a girl and her father my original drawings and explaining how they got turned into a book. A really sweet kid. That's librarian Nathan Libecap behind. The con staff did a smart thing in that they all wore orange capes, so if you had a problem or needed someone to watch your table for a few minutes, you could just grab an orange cape for help.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y73btH3Kt5Y/WI6TjXSzpHI/AAAAAAAAG4c/wYjz9N14I3MHvGUdi8JwqqtCAP1f6I8PACLcB/s1600/IMG_0597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y73btH3Kt5Y/WI6TjXSzpHI/AAAAAAAAG4c/wYjz9N14I3MHvGUdi8JwqqtCAP1f6I8PACLcB/s400/IMG_0597.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LumaCon had some of the usual costume ("cosplay") fol-de-rol, most of it charmingly homespun.<br />These Star Wars guys were semi-pros who looked very sharp . . .</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gnX_DiNe3YU/WI6Tjp2a0JI/AAAAAAAAG4g/X5zJgXibc84DkdZGrN0sn6LSYLVteOnfgCLcB/s1600/IMG_0616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gnX_DiNe3YU/WI6Tjp2a0JI/AAAAAAAAG4g/X5zJgXibc84DkdZGrN0sn6LSYLVteOnfgCLcB/s400/IMG_0616.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">. . . but my favorite of the day was the cardboard starship Enterprise. Terrific.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />A few "civilian" pals dropped by as well, including my friends Marion and Susan, and three great people I worked with long ago who conspired to gang up and surprise me. They succeeded! Jeran, Kim and Honora all remember when my daughters were born, so it was really special for me to reintroduce them all grown up.<br /><br />Another nice moment: I was a short distance from my table talking to Tom Beland when I looked over and saw one of my girls urgently waving me back. I hustled over and found them talking with a distinguished older woman with two boys in tow. Turns out she was a very good friend of my mother's 40 years ago who had brought her grandsons to LumaCon, just happened to notice my name on the table, and had been quizzing my daughters with way more information about my family than anyone should rightly have. I remembered her and her husband very well--she was actually one of a few adults who respected my interest in comics when I was a teen--and we had a good time catching up. Another wonderful surprise.<br /><br />All in all, LumaCon is about as sincere as Linus's pumpkin patch and as easy to love. This seems like an especially good time to promote creativity and literacy. I'll keep going as long as they'll have me.<br /><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-89243294329013139032017-01-15T09:31:00.001-08:002017-01-16T08:49:22.856-08:00How I Made a PictureI haven't done a "how to" post in a long time, but a few days ago I made a drawing that I was uncharacteristically happy with, and thought it'd be a good example of how I sometimes combine real ink-on-paper art with digital (Photoshop) manipulation to get the result I want.<br /><br />As always, this isn't the right way or the only way, it's just one way I solved a particular problem. Your mileage may vary.<br /><br />I think it helps to have some sort of Philosophy of Art, even if you don't call it that--some sense of how you like to do things. A Platonic Ideal. For example, my ideal comic would be one that's entirely hand drawn, hand lettered, and even hand colored right on the page. A comic crafted like that has integrity.<br /><br />Now, I don't ever do that. For production and printing purposes, I letter and color in Photoshop. But I know some people who do, such as the great Carol Tyler. What you see in her books is exactly what she puts on the paper. I admire and envy that authenticity, and consider everything I do that <i>isn't</i> that a compromise that comes with a cost.<br /><br />Your goal guides your process. I think Art should be as organic and analog as possible. Other artists have different philosophies. Many don't hesitate to do as much digital work as they can, up to 100 percent. I won't argue. It can look terrific. Whatever works. As the great cartoonist Wally Wood said:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Never draw what you can swipe.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Never swipe what you can trace.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Never trace what you can cut out and paste.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>And never do any of that if you can hire somebody to do it for you.</i></div><br />One reason I'm happy with this drawing, which is for a future project I won't talk about that's set to follow <i>another</i> project I won't talk about, is that it took me several tries to crack it. I couldn't figure out my composition and point of view. Here's what I came up with:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lKxy2HeJ70k/WHpgpi8TLCI/AAAAAAAAG04/AIWEgRb-nokffYWs2u-NgetI-i-bXJ7bgCLcB/s1600/Page%2B002%2B003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lKxy2HeJ70k/WHpgpi8TLCI/AAAAAAAAG04/AIWEgRb-nokffYWs2u-NgetI-i-bXJ7bgCLcB/s640/Page%2B002%2B003.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Based on photos of a real place, it's a black-and-white two-page spread that'll be printed with the left half on one page and the right half on the facing page. I'm happy with it because the left page draws your eye to the word balloon and car, the right page draws your eye to its destination--the steps and doors behind the flagpole--and together they make an asymmetrical but balanced (I think) composition.<br /><br />I did not want to spend two weeks drawing that. So I cheated.<br /><br />First I drew this. You can see some of my blue penciling under my black ink lines:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h3IrNdWVvbY/WHpijv9v9NI/AAAAAAAAG1E/DYDDzTsMVpoppBL_BoKW4hIMPYm61GmeQCLcB/s1600/LineArt%2BMain%2BBldg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h3IrNdWVvbY/WHpijv9v9NI/AAAAAAAAG1E/DYDDzTsMVpoppBL_BoKW4hIMPYm61GmeQCLcB/s400/LineArt%2BMain%2BBldg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Yeah, I drew all those rocks by hand; I'm not <i>completely</i> lazy. I also drew this:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dz0V4EYqRoU/WHpi7IpR4bI/AAAAAAAAG1I/6eYjNjL6MdM5RiPa4oCb-w9i3DfRtYFdQCLcB/s1600/Scan%2BWing%2BWindows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dz0V4EYqRoU/WHpi7IpR4bI/AAAAAAAAG1I/6eYjNjL6MdM5RiPa4oCb-w9i3DfRtYFdQCLcB/s400/Scan%2BWing%2BWindows.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Those four rectangles at the top of the drawing became groups of three or four windows of various widths and heights simply by squashing or stretching them in Photoshop:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-stzlDgne1K8/WHpjuIpIG9I/AAAAAAAAG1M/RdaH-9n_y-I_7zgGP_Q4WipGq5_QeK_3QCLcB/s1600/Windows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-stzlDgne1K8/WHpjuIpIG9I/AAAAAAAAG1M/RdaH-9n_y-I_7zgGP_Q4WipGq5_QeK_3QCLcB/s320/Windows.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Copy and paste and paste and paste and paste and paste:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wJBh8hiOc_Y/WHpj9vsw7rI/AAAAAAAAG1U/-edfnT1ZZOgdQdEdaKnIAfkOKbhnZdMvQCLcB/s1600/LineArt%2BWing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wJBh8hiOc_Y/WHpj9vsw7rI/AAAAAAAAG1U/-edfnT1ZZOgdQdEdaKnIAfkOKbhnZdMvQCLcB/s400/LineArt%2BWing.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Copy and paste that whole thing five times and BOOM, instant sprawling compound.<br /><br />I drew the car separately because <a href="https://momscancer.blogspot.com/2008/02/on-cheating.html">I don't like to draw cars</a>:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r6gQfILWTW0/WHpksCxvomI/AAAAAAAAG1c/auOKWKaVKqYn8AEkfNI9TY_Wta69D8M4QCLcB/s1600/Car%2BLine%2BArt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r6gQfILWTW0/WHpksCxvomI/AAAAAAAAG1c/auOKWKaVKqYn8AEkfNI9TY_Wta69D8M4QCLcB/s400/Car%2BLine%2BArt.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />One thing I kept in mind when drawing the car, and throughout the entire assembly, was keeping line weight consistent for the final drawing. I drew the car with a thicker line and less detail than I otherwise might have because I knew it would end up very small, and it still had to look like it belonged in the rest of the picture.<br /><br />I didn't draw all the trees. I actually really love inking pine trees with a brush--it's meditative--but not that many. Instead, I drew 20 trees and clumps of trees, then manipulated them to look like more. Copy and paste those variations, trying not to put two duplicates next to each other, and you've got a forest.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y4W1yTEHnTE/WHqrn54YvGI/AAAAAAAAG1s/e0laCoTjoqQovdPyJ6CcaL7byE-b8X_HgCLcB/s1600/Tree%2BVariations.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y4W1yTEHnTE/WHqrn54YvGI/AAAAAAAAG1s/e0laCoTjoqQovdPyJ6CcaL7byE-b8X_HgCLcB/s400/Tree%2BVariations.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The top row are the only trees I actually drew. The rest I tweaked in Photoshop.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />So here are the buildings and car pieced together, followed by the trees on a separate Photoshop layer (think of it as a transparency), which makes it a lot easier to color the ground "behind" them:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AMUWzAkFqv0/WHqtcnRPEFI/AAAAAAAAG2A/_OLr_ID7BpMyhC2rr3vxIu6vaJa1vbwGwCLcB/s1600/Bldgs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AMUWzAkFqv0/WHqtcnRPEFI/AAAAAAAAG2A/_OLr_ID7BpMyhC2rr3vxIu6vaJa1vbwGwCLcB/s400/Bldgs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OmU60Da-2UA/WHqtcjRRyjI/AAAAAAAAG2E/7HXxqRBGILgM1QsUmLACTbbta5RLa0vgwCLcB/s1600/Trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OmU60Da-2UA/WHqtcjRRyjI/AAAAAAAAG2E/7HXxqRBGILgM1QsUmLACTbbta5RLa0vgwCLcB/s400/Trees.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Put 'em all together, add some grays and words, and easy-peasy.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xX4Lv16-RvY/WHqwtK-h2LI/AAAAAAAAG2U/QYA9_jDkceI40Cym-0yy0d9GKoPGoMtzgCLcB/s1600/Page%2B002%2B003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xX4Lv16-RvY/WHqwtK-h2LI/AAAAAAAAG2U/QYA9_jDkceI40Cym-0yy0d9GKoPGoMtzgCLcB/s400/Page%2B002%2B003.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I don't expect to rely on so much digital tomfoolery for the rest of the project. I still aim to render as much by hand as possible. But because this two-page spread is an important establishing shot that shows the reader where they are and sets the stage for the entire story, I needed this level of detail and grand scale. After laying that foundation, I can relax a bit.<br /><br />Maybe someone else could do a drawing like that completely freehand but I can't, at least in the time I had to spend on it. So I did what works, with no apologies. It looks exactly like I wanted it to. <i>That's</i> the goal that guided my process.<br /><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-78226949459968079272016-12-30T10:23:00.001-08:002016-12-30T10:30:15.532-08:00Blue Highways<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RBcpbcBgWsk/WGansCWh15I/AAAAAAAAG0g/dkpV6imWBUonZgLqOtJo9wh2O4eqzg2awCLcB/s1600/blue%2Bhighways.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RBcpbcBgWsk/WGansCWh15I/AAAAAAAAG0g/dkpV6imWBUonZgLqOtJo9wh2O4eqzg2awCLcB/s320/blue%2Bhighways.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><br /><br />I'm reading <i>Blue Highways,</i> a gift from my friend Marion, in a way author William Least Heat-Moon never intended and probably couldn't have foreseen. <i>Blue Highways</i> is Heat-Moon's travelogue of his three-month loop through the backroads--the map's blue highways--of the United States in 1978. It was a bestseller at the time, and a book I always knew about and wanted to read but never quite got to. Now I have.<br /><br /><i>Blue Highways</i> is partly an elegy to a then-vanishing America, where people lived as they had fifty years before. Heat-Moon didn't have to wander far off the interstate to find folks living in tarpaper shacks with no plumbing, drinking free spring water that bubbled up from half a mile underground and eating whatever they could catch from the local pond. The book has one foot in the then-now and another in the past.<br /><br />Reading it today, nearly forty years after Heat-Moon's odyssey, piles another time shift on top. Now I can follow his route on Google Maps, and use Street View to tour the towns he traveled through. I can Google the businesses he patronized and the people he met. Some of them turn up. Heat-Moon didn't know how all the stories he told would turn out; now, I can look up the endings of at least a few.<br /><br />Not surprisingly, most of Heat-Moon's America from fifty-years-before-1978 appears to be gone. A little more surprisingly, so does a lot of his America from 1978. It wasn't that long ago. I was there. <i>Blue Highways</i> did (unintended?) double duty, documenting both its past and its present before they both passed into its future--where I can ride along with Heat-Moon on a computer that's about the same size and weight as the paperback edition I'm reading.<br /><br />It's a trip.Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-24491065062467703432016-12-24T01:00:00.001-08:002016-12-24T09:13:42.511-08:00Pogo & His Pals<div align="left">Golly, I haven't blogged in a couple of months. I may have run out of things to say, or outgrown the conceit that anyone cares. My intentions are good. Maybe next year.<br /><br />However, I can't let <i>this</i> year pass without posting a bit of whimsy that's been a tradition on my blog every Christmas Eve since way back in aught-five: "Pogo" cartoonist Walt Kelly's timeless carol, "Deck Us All With Boston Charlie." You know the tune. After that, for the first time ever, I've added a bonus cartoon by "Polly and Her Pals" cartoonist Cliff Sterrett, who in my opinion is <i>the</i> greatest underappreciated cartoonist you've never heard of from the first half of the 20th Century. I love Sterrett. This'll suggest why.<br /><br />All my best for today, tomorrow, and the New Year. Thanks for reading.<br /><br />Brian</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="color: #009900;">Deck us all with Boston Charlie,<br />Walla Walla, Wash., an' Kalamazoo!</span><br /><span style="color: red;">Nora's freezin' on the trolley,<br />Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo! </span><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_x_MctNg0L2w/TRN9oTKlnBI/AAAAAAAAB7I/vyko6t3T9Ps/s1600/Pogo%2BBoston%2B1.jpg"></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_x_MctNg0L2w/TRN9oTKlnBI/AAAAAAAAB7I/vyko6t3T9Ps/s1600/Pogo%2BBoston%2B1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553920896770874386" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_x_MctNg0L2w/TRN9oTKlnBI/AAAAAAAAB7I/vyko6t3T9Ps/s400/Pogo%2BBoston%2B1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 317px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 288px;" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #009900;">Don't we know archaic barrel,</span><br /><span style="color: #009900;">Lullaby Lilla boy, Louisville Lou?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">Trolley Molly don't love Harold,</span></div><span style="color: #009900;"></span><span style="color: red;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo!</span></div><span style="color: red;"></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: red;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553920898858801330" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x_MctNg0L2w/TRN9oa8Y2LI/AAAAAAAAB7A/0YmJOQ-SBQE/s400/Pogo%2BBoston%2B2.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 317px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 288px;" /><span style="color: #009900;">Bark us all bow-wows of folly,<br />Polly wolly cracker n' too-da-loo!</span><br /><span style="color: red;">Hunky Dory's pop is lolly<br />gaggin' on the wagon,<br />Willy, folly go through! </span><br /><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #009900;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553920893708132594" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_x_MctNg0L2w/TRN9oHwX4PI/AAAAAAAAB64/iifNqPuwWQw/s400/Pogo%2BBoston%2B3.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 311px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 288px;" /></span> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #009900;">Donkey Bonny brays a carol,<br />Antelope Cantaloup, 'lope with you!</span><br /><span style="color: red;">Chollie's collie barks at Barrow,<br />Harum scarum five alarum bung-a-loo! </span><br /><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x_MctNg0L2w/TRN9n2nOiOI/AAAAAAAAB6w/kpQCW259hPQ/s1600/Pogo%2BBoston%2B4.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553920889106368738" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x_MctNg0L2w/TRN9n2nOiOI/AAAAAAAAB6w/kpQCW259hPQ/s400/Pogo%2BBoston%2B4.jpg" style="display: block; height: 297px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 288px;" /></a> <br /><br /><div align="right"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iFmK2v9qzTQ/WFsWLFAjm2I/AAAAAAAAG0Q/KwDK62JdwHk5RqevWYIR0GSH8I-dC0kjgCLcB/s1600/Sterrett%2BMerry%2BChristmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="540" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iFmK2v9qzTQ/WFsWLFAjm2I/AAAAAAAAG0Q/KwDK62JdwHk5RqevWYIR0GSH8I-dC0kjgCLcB/s640/Sterrett%2BMerry%2BChristmas.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div>Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-32864284887632434912016-09-28T10:14:00.005-07:002016-09-28T22:55:17.202-07:00My Fellow Super-Americans<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C9907sKCb2o/V-vy9UhRY3I/AAAAAAAAGyY/4Lncd6kqJUcATR80XkrKQiG5z2aqjvpCACLcB/s1600/Panel%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C9907sKCb2o/V-vy9UhRY3I/AAAAAAAAGyY/4Lncd6kqJUcATR80XkrKQiG5z2aqjvpCACLcB/s400/Panel%2B1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i7MoQnYZ5HU/V-vy9c4HJ-I/AAAAAAAAGyc/kOI-JlEWDrEm2tZ-Zic5dQGrDtGOI0YmACLcB/s1600/Panel%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i7MoQnYZ5HU/V-vy9c4HJ-I/AAAAAAAAGyc/kOI-JlEWDrEm2tZ-Zic5dQGrDtGOI0YmACLcB/s400/Panel%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pj1fJuiYY2g/V-vy9fVR0-I/AAAAAAAAGyg/_jgpJzxWLH03bard8JApvsqL3upzxX6qwCLcB/s1600/Panel%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pj1fJuiYY2g/V-vy9fVR0-I/AAAAAAAAGyg/_jgpJzxWLH03bard8JApvsqL3upzxX6qwCLcB/s400/Panel%2B3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aU3Ergi0-YE/V-vy99If82I/AAAAAAAAGyk/F_OQCtE6tZocqWqwG8bpW1cpJJNZ5vxiACLcB/s1600/Panel%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aU3Ergi0-YE/V-vy99If82I/AAAAAAAAGyk/F_OQCtE6tZocqWqwG8bpW1cpJJNZ5vxiACLcB/s400/Panel%2B4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8zor55OyAyw/V-vy-VrfIWI/AAAAAAAAGyo/gXIT-WRqsdMTulayD4xlyO_xxAoHSW84ACLcB/s1600/Panel%2B5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8zor55OyAyw/V-vy-VrfIWI/AAAAAAAAGyo/gXIT-WRqsdMTulayD4xlyO_xxAoHSW84ACLcB/s400/Panel%2B5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qwhhqq5Kyu0/V-vy-hLz_wI/AAAAAAAAGys/4w--nU1v2kwTMYwQUILwqb0z0Bpax9QegCLcB/s1600/Panel%2B6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qwhhqq5Kyu0/V-vy-hLz_wI/AAAAAAAAGys/4w--nU1v2kwTMYwQUILwqb0z0Bpax9QegCLcB/s400/Panel%2B6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZO5AYWKRYY/V-vzM7r4lyI/AAAAAAAAGy8/6kcXmsjJXq4Swcns9gwhgZljzSMCOuBRgCLcB/s1600/Panel%2B7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZO5AYWKRYY/V-vzM7r4lyI/AAAAAAAAGy8/6kcXmsjJXq4Swcns9gwhgZljzSMCOuBRgCLcB/s400/Panel%2B7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cpqalqR6Xf0/V-vzNbeXKBI/AAAAAAAAGzE/-CtNV-fHpCE1tID0e7JHxMLElapz1eWPQCLcB/s1600/Panel%2B8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cpqalqR6Xf0/V-vzNbeXKBI/AAAAAAAAGzE/-CtNV-fHpCE1tID0e7JHxMLElapz1eWPQCLcB/s400/Panel%2B8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ojATLTj5H5U/V-vzNedSlTI/AAAAAAAAGzA/3_UBYVZgddgZllegS1nZ6w8kfv7wNn6jwCLcB/s1600/Panel%2B9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ojATLTj5H5U/V-vzNedSlTI/AAAAAAAAGzA/3_UBYVZgddgZllegS1nZ6w8kfv7wNn6jwCLcB/s400/Panel%2B9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Ny2Gap6ph0/V-vzMQRQwOI/AAAAAAAAGy0/8tV5UtKIAvAqiaRRC0_YvFEmwITZVFenACLcB/s1600/Panel%2B10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Ny2Gap6ph0/V-vzMQRQwOI/AAAAAAAAGy0/8tV5UtKIAvAqiaRRC0_YvFEmwITZVFenACLcB/s400/Panel%2B10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uVEcfQomgNo/V-vzMMn_T5I/AAAAAAAAGyw/RG95WtEFa78tAlA47-s0RtV12fmEUE85QCLcB/s1600/Panel%2B11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uVEcfQomgNo/V-vzMMn_T5I/AAAAAAAAGyw/RG95WtEFa78tAlA47-s0RtV12fmEUE85QCLcB/s400/Panel%2B11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WkqOLw66vg8/V-wGQcM0AbI/AAAAAAAAGzo/gC2YBuLiKh8hRwQVszwldaP4qTT9JH0twCLcB/s1600/Panel%2B12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WkqOLw66vg8/V-wGQcM0AbI/AAAAAAAAGzo/gC2YBuLiKh8hRwQVszwldaP4qTT9JH0twCLcB/s400/Panel%2B12.jpg" width="391" /></a></div><br />The "What Would Clark Kent Do?" filter works surprisingly well. Here's a partial list of things I'm pretty sure he&nbsp;<i>wouldn't</i> do:<br /><br />Make fun of fat women.<br />Make fun of ugly women.<br />Make fun of menstruation.<br />Make fun of the disabled.<br />Insult POWs.<br />Insult the parents of dead soldiers.<br />Extort his allies ("Eh, nice country you got here, be a shame if somethin' happened to it.")<br />Go into business with General Zod.<br />Praise the way General Zod handles the press and dissidents.<br />Suggest that General Zod could maybe help him get rid of his enemies.<br />Lie; then when confronted with that lie, double down or deny.<br />Brag.<br />Bluster.<br />Bully.<br />When caught bullying, retort "Can't you take a joke?"<br />Blame his failures on everyone but himself.<br />Appeal to people's worst instincts instead of their best.<br /><br />Really, the list is practically endless. I keep waiting for a modern-day Joseph Welch versus Joe McCarthy moment, but I'm not sure we have it in us anymore. Decency is too old-fashioned.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fqQD4dzVkwk" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br />I don't expect to change anyone's mind, and I'm breaking my rule about not doing politics online. Might regret it; don't care. I had to stand up and be counted. Clark would.<br /><br />Here's the above comic laid out in two pages, which I wasn't sure would be readable at blog size. Click to embiggen. Thanks for your indulgence.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rm7wbAlkudw/V-v5usFg40I/AAAAAAAAGzU/YMTiKP-N1Xc5V9t9Rc4J0F5xlib-6onsgCLcB/s1600/Supertrump%2BPage%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rm7wbAlkudw/V-v5usFg40I/AAAAAAAAGzU/YMTiKP-N1Xc5V9t9Rc4J0F5xlib-6onsgCLcB/s640/Supertrump%2BPage%2B1.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mXuLVj6ntbU/V-wGWoWfPaI/AAAAAAAAGzs/6FgP7v57CWUxFrvMrEJfiRWWhkZTZIXTACLcB/s1600/Supertrump%2BPage%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mXuLVj6ntbU/V-wGWoWfPaI/AAAAAAAAGzs/6FgP7v57CWUxFrvMrEJfiRWWhkZTZIXTACLcB/s640/Supertrump%2BPage%2B2.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><br />Brian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.com21